Y.E. Yang Wins The PGA Championship!
Alright, Tiger Woods just said in his post round press conference that his execution was flawless, the putting wasn't. Brandel Chamblee on Golf Channel questioned some of Tiger's strategy and execution, particularly during Saturday's round.
But I'm most impressed with Y.E. Yang's toughness. Did anyone else think he responded like no one else has when some subtle gamesmanship came into the picture?
There was Tiger close-standing him or making sure he was in his vision over back nine putts at 15 and 16, with Yang countering by throwing his ball in the crowd before Tiger putted and then putting out on 16 before Tiger.
For me that was the best part of the day. Oh and the shot on 18 was kind of incredible too.
I can't wait to read some of the inside-the-ropes observations and see what the photographers captured in those epic final moments on 18 (SI's Fred Vuich's shot above left accompanying the first AP story is a nice start).
Your thoughts?
Sunday, August 16, 2009 at 04:31 PM
Reader Comments (46)
There was something poetic about the fact that Yang wins in the same week as golf become an Olympic sport.
cant wait to see how this win will effect the masters tv rights fees in korea and the rest of asia. of course, we'll never know.
Tiger blowing a lead in a major makes certainly spices up the interest going forward. He finally has what all golfers have - the voice of an untamed demon rattling around in his head.
I scared the hell out of my pregnant wife when Yang hit that shot on #18. I screamed like a 12 year old girl at a Jonas Brothers concert. What a shot!
Didn't he have some incredible stats from inside 10' in the past 2 tournaments?
I wish the media would have asked him if he missed because of mishit or misread. If they did, I must have missed it.
Tiger saying if he had putted better is just as annoying as the guy in your foursome saying he would have been 79 without the three OB tee shots.
You led by two and the 100th ranked golfer in the world waxed you by five on the day. I'm sure YE missed some shots over four days as well - that is golf.
I think I heard him jingling the G5 keys in his pocket on #8 tee.
After watching so many dramatic comebacks (harking back to the Trip Kuehne, Steve Scott days, even) I'm speechless.
This may be the bargain Tiger had to pay to break Jack's record though. The Gods are saying 'Hey, you want it? Ok, but taste some humble pie first. This game is impossible to master, even for you.'
Today seemed odd to me, in that he seemed to have lost his putting eye before the last round.
Again, maybe I'm wrong. But that's what I saw...his otherwise perfect preparation for majors seemed less so today.
Another thing...while the talk will be about his putting, his iron play, which is usually so spectacular and seems to get better when he needs it most, failed again today. He hit very poor iron shots on the last 3-4 holes. Yes, he was gambling, perhaps, but usually Tiger doesn't gamble unless he is pretty sure he can pull it off. The only other major I can remember where he failed this way were the Masters won by Cabrera this year and the won Tiger won in the playoff over DeMarco.
I can't help but wonder what this means for Korean golf on the men's side? Perhaps Tiger's greatest rivals won't be from America or Europe after all? Anyone want to take odds on an Asian player being the one to pass Jack and then overtake Tiger on the all-time Majors list in the next 10-15 years?
I bet you can book a room for cheap in Bermuda the week of the Grand Slam of Golf and since the event is a Port Royal you can also try to get a tee time at Mid Ocean.
I was glad though that CBS decided to interrupt their commercial marathon with a little golf. Was it just me, or was it Woods hits, Yang hits.........COMMERCIAL!
Heart congrats to Y.E. Make no mistake, he beats Woods.
Close standing him? Tiger walked up to his putt on 16 but then backed off when Yang elected to putt out.
If Bivens was head of the PGA would Y E Yang be disqualified for not speaking English? And Tiger declared the winner.
Love the question in the news conference to Tiger about Asian golfers, Funny my first thought was Tiger is 1/2 Asian, he is the greatest Asian Golfer of all time!!
Yang was impressively focused, aware of his progress and position on each hole, in total control of his course management, and in a zone with his putting and with his approach shots, like that beauty onto the final green.
That said, after Firestone and Hazeltine I feel as if I've been in golf architecture purgatory for the last two weeks.
It's gonna be a long eight months at sea for Tiger on the deck of "Privacy".
Maybe now that Butch has broken up with Adam Scott, he and Tiger can realize that they are each other's true love and can get back to the business of re-writing the record book (from the fairway).
Agreed, noticed the same thing.
dsl,
An Asian (or anyone else) passing Jack and Tiger on the all-time majors win list in the next 10-15 years? Odds will be real, real long.
Yang's swing coach, Brian Mogg, said that Yang hit similar shots at the flag on 18 during his practice rounds. What a great shot!
``I tried to master the art of controlling my emotions throughout the small wins I had in my career,'' Yang said through his agent, Michael Yim. ``I think it turned out quite well today.''
Harrington's post round interview showed great sportsmanship.
it was great to see someone stand up to tiger finally. i am interested to see how tiger responds to this. i agree with the posters who said he looked tired after playing three weeks in a row.
i admire tiger's golf, if not his behavior, and i wondered if he would be as gracious in defeat as jack.
jim nantz should do us all a favor and just stick to furniture commercials full time. the corey pavin at shinnecock reference was jarring and stupid, as was the "y . . e . . .s" line.
Anyhow, all credit to Yang. He was the only one out there who didn't look like he was going to crap himself when in contention - and in the company of Tiger, that's extremely impressive stuff. Yang has Tiger's number. Yang beat Tiger by a shot or two at the HSBC Champions a couple of years' ago in Shanghai. OK, they weren't playing together, but Tiger held the lead before Yang snuck up at the end.
I don't necessarily see Yang winning more majors, but I do see more and more Asian players (particularly Koreans) making a move in the years' ahead. Similar kinda thing to what happened when Se Ri Pak won two majors in her rookie season on the LPGA. Belief is a wonderful thing, and this will give a lot of people that.
We expected that Woods’ magic would be broken someday; however, we never expect it would be Yang to do this.
He's in denial - he did not put the ball in the correct spots to make putts and if he thinks he did then finally we see that he's not invincible
Snead, maybe not the smartest man, but a canny golfer, said - you must play with what you've got on a given day. Tiger refused to acknowledge that he didn't have the cut shot today - he kept playing it and leaving himself in rotten spots...
Thoughts?