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Yang beats Tiger Woods to win US PGA title
South Korea's Y.E. Yang became the first Asian winner of a major title when he beat Tiger Woods to win the PGA Championship.
- Agencies
- Published: 08:27 August 17, 2009
- Image Credit: AP
- Y.E. Yang celebrates after winning the 91st PGA Championship in Chaska, Minn. on Sunday.
Chaska, Minnesota: The scene seemed surreal, mostly because somehow we never expected to see it. Tiger Woods had been so great for so long that the idea of anyone - much less the late-blooming son of a South Korean vegetable farmer - coming from behind to beat him when it really mattered bordered on preposterous.
This really did come from nowhere, delivered by a relative nobody who refused to wilt like so many others had before him. The world No 1 was stunned, but so too was the massive gallery at Hazeltine National. Fans were there for a coronation only to find out someone had not only stolen the champagne but the cake, too.
Woods stood on the 18th green, staring intently at his golf ball, as if he were trying to read it for clues as to what went so terribly wrong. Y.E. Yang's final putt made official what he already knew. Losing was something that happened to the other guy, not him, and he would still suffer the added indignity of having to putt out while Yang traded high-fives with his caddie.
He missed, as he had so many times on this long Minnesota day. No matter, because by now the secret was already out.
Tiger Woods is human after all.
Woods' remarkable streak of winning 14 major championships while leading going into the final round is over, undone by a balky putter and a player who not only dared to stand up to him but delivered a final blow so stunning it will live on in golf lore. A lot of players had the game to beat Woods on Sunday in a major, but Yang was the only one with the mental toughness to believe it could actually be done.
He may have been among the most improbable of challengers, but they are the kind who always seemed to give Woods the most trouble. Bob May nearly stole a PGA Championship from him in Kentucky, and Rocco Mediate had him beat on the California coast until Woods sank a miracle putt on the final hole at the US Open last year, forcing a playoff which Woods won.
Profile: Yang Yong-Eun
Birthdate: January 15, 1972
Birthplace: Jeju-do, South Korea
Age: 37
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 195 lbs
Home: Seoul
Turned professional in 1996
Joined PGA Tour 2007
US PGA Tour victories: 2 (2009 Honda Classic, 2009 PGA Championship)
European PGA Tour victories - 1 (2007 HSBC Championship)
Career milestone: Became the first Asian golfer to win a major title
Your comments
Waoh! m so shocked at Y.E.Yang's win over world's number one golfer, Tiger! Times are changing. Am sad for Tiger but i congratulate Yang! His shots were clean and clear!
Debbie
Accra,Ghana
Posted: August 17, 2009, 13:22
Really - really congaratulation to yang who won the title and know the world Asian also brave the golf games.
Ram Khadka
Kathmandu,Nepal
Posted: August 17, 2009, 11:45
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