Y.E. Yang Shocks Tiger in PGA Championship Final Round

Y.E. Yang, 37, turned the golf world upside town on Sunday with a shocking defeat of world number one Tiger Woods.
Y.E. Yang Shocks Tiger in PGA Championship Final Round
WELL DESERVED: Y.E. Yang shakes hands with Tiger Woods after the 18th hole. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)
8/16/2009
Updated:
8/16/2009
<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/yang-woods2_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/yang-woods2_medium.jpg" alt="WELL DESERVED: Y.E. Yang shakes hands with Tiger Woods after the 18th hole. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)" title="WELL DESERVED: Y.E. Yang shakes hands with Tiger Woods after the 18th hole. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-90909"/></a>
WELL DESERVED: Y.E. Yang shakes hands with Tiger Woods after the 18th hole. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)
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.
<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/yang-woods_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/yang-woods_medium.jpg" alt="UNLUCKY 13: Tiger hangs his head on the 13th hole after missing his putt. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)" title="UNLUCKY 13: Tiger hangs his head on the 13th hole after missing his putt. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-90910"/></a>
UNLUCKY 13: Tiger hangs his head on the 13th hole after missing his putt. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

Woods was then able to regain a stroke lead with a birdie at the 11th hole, but he gave the stroke back on the 12th. The turning point of the match was the 14th hole, where Yang’s tee shot on the drivable par-four was just short of the green in the short rough. But he holed out for an eagle to go up one stroke on Woods.

At this point, the tide of good emotions and momentum were all on the side of Yang. He was still leading by a stroke going into the 18th and an eight-foot birdie-putt made with confidence sealed his victory as a legitimate one and not a fluke.

Woods said that he played well from tee to green but that his putting uncharacteristically failed him as he took an almost unbelievable 33 putts in the round.

“I was in control of the tournament most of the day. I was playing well, hitting the ball well. I was making nothing, but still either tied for the lead or ahead.

“And Y.E. played great all day. Unfortunately, I just didn’t make the putts when I needed to make them,” said Woods.

Through a translator Yang spoke about some major celebrations that will take place in South Korea for this historic event and result. His first place purse is $1,350,000. Woods receives $810,000 for second, and the 20-year old sensation from Ireland, Rory McIlroy, and Lee Westwood of England finished third with $435,000 each.