Y.E. Yang, 37, turned the golf world upside town on Sunday with a shocking defeat of world number one Tiger Woods to win the 91st PGA Championship. Yang, ranked 110th in the world, came out of nowhere and shot a two under par 70, to Tiger’s 75.
He beat Tiger mano-a-mano, playing in the final pairing, by five shots on the final day of a major championship. Yang played superbly as he matched the day’s lowest score of 70, which was shot by several other players. His 280 total for the four rounds was eight under par, three strokes better than Woods’s final tally.
The win is the second for Yang this season on the Tour, but it is his first major championship and he has become the first Asian player to win a major in golf.
The conditions were difficult as blustery winds blew across the 7,674-yard Hazeltine course, in Chaska, Minn., the longest in major championship history.
Woods had previously been totally dominant and indestructible on the final day of a major when he has had the three-day lead. He had a two-stroke cushion over Yang going into the final day, but Yang stood up very well under the pressure and put Tiger away with three strokes to spare.
Up to this point Woods was 14 for 14 in majors when leading into the final round. Now he’s 14 for 15 and Yang will forever be known as the one who broke his string of invincibility.
Woods was trying for his third straight victory, sixth of the season, and fifth PGA Championship.
Yang tied Woods after the fourth hole and they were again tied at the eighth when Woods bogeyed the hole.
He beat Tiger mano-a-mano, playing in the final pairing, by five shots on the final day of a major championship. Yang played superbly as he matched the day’s lowest score of 70, which was shot by several other players. His 280 total for the four rounds was eight under par, three strokes better than Woods’s final tally.
The win is the second for Yang this season on the Tour, but it is his first major championship and he has become the first Asian player to win a major in golf.
The conditions were difficult as blustery winds blew across the 7,674-yard Hazeltine course, in Chaska, Minn., the longest in major championship history.
Woods had previously been totally dominant and indestructible on the final day of a major when he has had the three-day lead. He had a two-stroke cushion over Yang going into the final day, but Yang stood up very well under the pressure and put Tiger away with three strokes to spare.
Up to this point Woods was 14 for 14 in majors when leading into the final round. Now he’s 14 for 15 and Yang will forever be known as the one who broke his string of invincibility.
Woods was trying for his third straight victory, sixth of the season, and fifth PGA Championship.
Yang tied Woods after the fourth hole and they were again tied at the eighth when Woods bogeyed the hole.
