PGA Champion Y.E. Yang Deserves All Credit for Victory

Golf writer Andy Reistetter is on site at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota and is providing daily reports covering both inside and outside the ropes.  Here are his notes from the final round on Sunday 8/16/09.

Some will say he wasn't aggressive enough during Saturday's round.

Others will say records are made to come to an end.

Tiger will say he simply did not putt well enough on Sunday to win his 15^th Major at this time.

Yong Eun (Y.E.) Yang from South Korea became the first Asian golfer to win a Major.

Unlike the HSBC in Shanghai, this time he defeated Tiger Woods head-to-head in the final pairing on the biggest stage in the world of golf—the PGA Championship—Glory's Last Shot.

Yang's last full swing shot was a glorious three-iron to the 18^th green.  His ensuing birdie putt dropped for a three-stroke victory over the World's No. 1 golfer and the strongest field in golf.

Make no mistake; this come-from-behind taking of the Wannamaker Trophy is a statement to the world that Asian golfers have finally and completely arrived.

Coupled with the Masters and R&A establishing an Asian amateur tournament this fall with the prized invitation to the 2010 Masters, this victory will be the spark that totally ignites the game of golf in the Far East.

Padraig Harrington, himself a victim of a "snowman 8" with a watery chip two Sundays in a row, characterized the opportunity for himself and other champion golfers like Lucas Glover:

"I suppose it's easy for us in that situation [trailing Tiger going into the final round], because we have nothing to lose.  Everybody expects it's going to be him, so we get a free run at it."

"Obviously to get a win, you've got to beat him by three tomorrow; that's a tall order, but as I said, everybody in the situation who is behind is going to think, well, you know, we have nothing to lose."

For Harrington, he lost it on the par-three eighth hole where, after hitting his tee shot in the water, he hit a chip shot in the water, too.

The last two shots on the fateful hole were a magnificent up-and-down.

"I did the classic amateur thing."

Yang did the professional thing during the Sunday finale shooting a two-under 70 while Tiger got around in 75.  He not only beat him by three, he beat him by five strokes, two of which came on the final hole.

It was closer than the score indicated, with Tiger's putting woes beginning on the very first hole, a missed birdie putt inside 10 feet.

For the second day in a row, Tiger three-putted the par-three fourth hole and fell into a tie at seven-under with Yang who birdied the par-five third hole.

Tiger's two-stroke lead had evaporated at that point, and one stroke back was U.S. Open Champion Lucas Glover and defending PGA Champion Padraig Harrington.

Glover faded gradually with bogeys on holes six, eight, nine and 12, while Harrington went in two splashes at eight.

All order seemed to be restored when Yang bogeyed the par-four fifth hole—Tiger was back leading the PGA Championship when he bunkered his iron tee shot on eight, but then bogeyed, falling into another tie with the 37-year old South Korean.

At the turn, Tiger Woods was two-over par on the front nine while Yang shot even for par.

Tiger birdied the par-five 11^th hole to take the lead back at seven-under.

After a Woods bogey in the long par-four 12^th hole, Yang chipped in for eagle at the short par-four 14th hole to take the lead for first time, as Tiger could only manage a birdie.

Tiger knew this is when the likely outcome was not likely to occur.

"As far as the tournament switching, [on No.] 13, I stuffed it in there.  He made a mistake, hit it in the left bunker.  He blasted out.  I missed my putt.  He made his. And then he chipped in on the next hole.  So that two-hole stretch turned (the momentum and the tournament around).

Yang nervously three-putted the par-three 17^thhole, though Woods failed to take any advantage, missing his own 12-footer for par after his seven-iron tee shot sailed directly over the back flagstick, ending up in the treacherous rough of Hazeltine.

"I hit my shot.  I got the downwind gust.  I couldn't ask for a better golf swing, just hit it right over the top of the flag.  And, unfortunately, it didn't get up-and-down."

Woods faced the media after his 14-for-14 record of winning when leading a Major going into the final round was ended by Yang.

"Y.E. played great all day. I don't think he really missed a shot all day.  He just made that mistake at 17.  But other than that, he hit it great all day.  It was a fun battle.  Unfortunately, I just didn't make the putts when I needed to make them."

"I played well enough to win the championship.  I did not putt well enough to win the championship today.  I didn't get it done on the greens, and consequently I didn't win the golf tournament."

"It was just a bad day at the wrong time and that's the way it goes."

England's Lee Westwood for the second Major in a row and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy both shot 70 and tied for third place.

Yang's caddie, A.J. Montecinos from San Antonio, knew it wasn't over until both shots were hit into the 18^th green.

"After not closing out Tiger missing putts on 16 for birdie and 17 for par, there was a chance Tiger would beat him on 18.  Y.E. pulled a 3-iron, hit it and never looked back."

Though on the green Yang would admit to thinking the following as Tiger tried to chip in for birdie from the rough:

"Please [don't go in]."

Afterwards A.J. promoted his golfer and now-PGA Champion.

"He's very, very low key and very easy to get along with, and just when the general public gets to know him, they are going to fall in love with him because he has a heart as big as his face."

Some golfing fans in the U.S. already know Yang from his win at the Honda Classic earlier in the year.

We will get more of a chance to know him as winning the PGA Championship comes with a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour.

With no rounds in the 60s on a tough day at Hazeltine, Yang's 70 was good enough to beat Tiger by three strokes and the field to win the 91^stPGA Championship.

Tiger will have to wait until next year's PGA at Whistling Straits before tying Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen for five PGA Championship victories.

Yang and all of Asian golf can't wait until tomorrow, knowing they are triumphant with a Major Championship and have arrived in glory and style on the world golf scene.

Congratulations Yung Eun Yang, PGA Champion!

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer.  He follows the PGA Tour, volunteering for the tournaments and working part time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel.  He resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, near the PGA Tour headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach.  He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it.  He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]