US PGA Roundup Yang picks up first US PGA tour win!

The final major of the decade will be remembered for many years to come. It was another shock victory in 2009 because of the player that won, but perhaps even more because of the player that lost.

South Korean Y.E. Yang tamed Tiger Woods on Sunday at Hazeltine to win the 91st US PGA Championship by three shots. It’s the first time Woods has lost a major tournament when leading going into the final round; he’s won 14 times from 14 previously. The World No.1 suffered from an unusually cold putter on Sunday; a combination of poor putts and miss-read greens leading to Woods’ first defeat on American soil when leading by more than one shot.

“All the other 14 major championships I’ve won, I’ve putted well for the entire week,” Woods said. “And today, that didn’t happen.”

Woods’ final round 75 was his worst score in a major when in the final group. Starting the day at eight-under par, Tiger bogeyed his final two holes to lose by three shots. In contrast, Yang finished strongly, birdying the difficult final hole to shoot 70 and secure his second victory of the season.

For too long players have crumbled in the cauldron of being paired with Woods on Sunday. The aura he creates along with the occasion is commonly all too much for contenders to handle and there was nothing to suggest this week would be any different. But this time, at the 15th time of asking, it was Yang who came out on top thanks to two memorable shots worthy enough to win any golf tournament.

Yang was tied with Woods playing the fourteenth but gained the advantage with a perfect 60-foot pitch shot that rolled dead-weight into the hole for an eagle two. Woods to his credit responded with a birdie of his own on that same hole but could not overcome the deficit over the last four holes. After both players bogeyed seventeen, Yang was under pressure to produce the goods on eighteen with Woods in the middle of the final fairway taking dead aim with his approach.

But under intense pressure, Yang sealed victory in emphatic fashion, launching a hybrid from 206 yards to eight feet, leaving Woods stunned and playing for second.

“It’s not like you’re in an octagon where you’re fighting against Tiger and he’s going to bite you, or swing at you with his 9-iron,” Yang said through an interpreter. “The worst that I could do was just lose to Tiger. So I really had nothing much at stake.”