Y.E. Yang with wife Young Ju
Yang at the Champion’s Toast
following the final round of
play at the PGA
Championship.
“When I make that, I think ‘maybe I do
have a chance,’ but I also know maybe Tiger
birdies the last three or four holes (as
Woods did in nearly catching 2002 PGA
Champion Rich Beem at Hazeltine),”
noted Yang. “You never know what
happens with Tiger, because he has been in
many situations like this.”
After Woods and Yang matched pars at
the 15th and 16th holes, Yang hit his 7-iron
tee ball onto the front of the green at the
189-yard 17th. After studying the wind,
Woods then air-mailed the green with his 7-
iron and made bogey from the thick rough.
But enjoying a golden opportunity to take a
two-shot cushion to the final hole, Yang
three-putted for bogey and walked to the
72nd hole with a precarious one-swing
advantage.
While the thousands of spectators
lining the 18th hole at Hazeltine National
were poised for a fabulous finish, it was
Yang who supplied the histrionics and
Woods who uncharacteristically faltered.
Yang had played the monstrous, 475-yard,
par-
4 18th hole four times in practice
rounds and hit a hybrid club within
15 feet
of the flagstick every time.
Yang’s drive down the left side of the
MONTANA PRITCHARD/ THE PGA OF AMERICA
52 THE OFFICIAL PROGRAM OF THE 2010 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
fair way left him 210 yards to the flag during
the final round. Similar to what he
accomplished in his practice rounds, Yang
carved a picture-perfect 3-hybrid around a
tree and faded it to within eight feet of the
back-left hole location. When Woods
missed the green about
25 feet away and
failed to hole his chip, all Yang had to do
was two-putt for the victory and his first
major championship. Instead, he buried
the birdie and watched as Woods missed his
par-saving putt, perhaps disbelieving that
the world’s No.
1 player had just finished
bogey-bogey on Sunday in a major
championship to finish three shots behind.
“This is a great day for me and for my
country. It means the world right now,”
assured Yang, who received a
congratulatory telephone call from South
Korean President Lee Myung-bak
following his historic victory. “This might
be my last win as a golfer, but I will never
forget this day.”
Yang seemingly shot himself out of the
Championship with an opening
73,
followed by bogeys on four of the first five
holes in the second round. But he played
his final
13 holes in the second round in 6-
under par to post a
70, and then catapulted
into contention with six more birdies and a
single bogey en route to a 5-under
67 in the
third round. He entered the final day
within two strokes of Woods.
For Woods, his second-place finish in
the PGA Championship at Hazeltine
National meant no major championships in
2009 and put his pursuit of the Golden
Bear’s record
18 major championships on
hold.
“I played well enough to win the
championship,” reflected Woods, “but 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 tournament. Give Y. E. credit. He
executed his game plan, drove it beautifully,
and hit his irons in the correct spots. He
played beautifully.”
Beautifully, indeed. A historic
masterpiece at Hazeltine National by the
first Asian-born male to win a major
championship, and another riveting
chapter in golf’s David vs. Goliath
anthology. ■
Roger Graves is PGA Magazine’s
senior writer and a longtime PGA
Championship Program contributor.
