YANG!: Tiger Is Slain.

It had to happen eventually.  After going 14 for 14 in major championships when holding or being tied for the lead after 54 holes, Tiger Woods was defeated by 110th ranked Y.E. Yang from Seoul, South Korea.

Yank becomes the first Asian-born player ever to win a major championship. 

Many might have thought Yang’s idol K.J. Choi would have been first, but after 72 holes of play, it is Yang who gets to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy (and also his golf bag) at the 91st PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club.

Hazeltine played difficult all week, being the longest course ever in major championship history at 7,674 yards.  Yet, it was not so much the distance that made the Minnesota course so difficult, but rather the subtleties of the greens that made scoring a daunting task.  Certainly it was putting that kept Woods from capturing his 15th major victory which would have put him only three behind Nicklaus’ eighteen.

Woods burned edges off the cup all day on Sunday and one could only watch and think, what if he had just made one or two of those? 

Seldom has Tiger Woods dealt with missing putts in the manner he did in the final round at Hazeltine, and it was obviously frustrating to Tiger as we watched him talk to himself after so many missed opportunities. 

Yang gave Woods a chance to tie on the par three 17 with a three-putt, but Tiger missed his par-saving putt—one we have seen him make hundreds of times in clutch situations.

Take nothing away from Yang however.  He kept pace with Tiger on a Sunday and came back from a two shot deficit, taking a major victory away from Woods—something no other player has ever done in a major. 

Yang’s chip shot on the 14th hole for eagle giving him a one shot lead with four holes to play was seemingly the shot of his life and the tournament. 

However, he topped that remarkable chip shot with a magnificently played second shot on 18 with a hybrid-3 iron, which put him eight feet from the hole with a chance for birdie and the win. 

Yang made his birdie, putting him at eight under, defeating Tiger Woods by three strokes. 

Despite not winning a major in the 2009 season, Tiger Woods should still be named the PGA player of the year.  He has won five tournaments so far this year, coming off surgery on his knee that kept him out of the last two majors in 2008. 

Even though he has captured five PGA tour victories this year, Tiger will still probably consider the year a failure because he did not claim a single major title.  His timing was just a bit off all year. 

He won all four tournaments that were held just prior to each major in 2009 and was about a half of a club off the mark when he really needed a clutch shot.  We saw Tiger win, as we have come to expect, he just didn’t win when he would have wanted. 

Make no mistake though, Tiger, who is only thirty-three, has a lot of magic left to show us.  Fans should expect to see Tiger close the gap between him and Nicklaus in 2010.