So I mentioned in the previous post that I would be mildly surprised if Tiger didn’t win the PGA Championship. He didn’t. But not only didn’t he win, he lost when he had the lead for most of the final round. It’s not that that has never happened. But it’s only happened once before. During his first year on tour. He wasn’t playing his best game today, but he was grinding it out and doing pretty good, and Tiger’s not-his-best is something the rest of us can only dream about. So I would say it was pretty much a foregone conclusion here in The Household, and probably in the announcers booth, that this would be another ho-hum Tiger win.
Boy was it not.
Who did win? Y. E. Yang. And the question on everyone’s lips was ‘Who the heck is Y.E. Yang?’ He is a 37 year old South Korean who didn’t even pick up a club until he was 19. He served his required two years in the military starting when he was 21. He turned pro in 1996 and played on the Asian and European tours. He had to go through the qualifying tournaments the past two years just to make it on the PGA Tour. But there he was, hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy.
It was a heck of a final round. Either one of them could have won it even at the 18th hole. And did you see that 3-hybrid shot to the green on Yang made on 18? That was not the shot a person intimidated by Tiger Woods makes. Nervous, yes. You don’t 3 putt on 17 like he did unless you’re nervous. But intimidated? No. For the most part he looked like he was having the time of his life.
I will say this for Tiger, after the recent dust up regarding his temper, he behaved like an adult and a professional, although it was obvious he was very frustrated with the way things were going. And he was very gracious.
"He's always been a wonderful ball striker. The only thing that held him back was the flat stick. Today, he executed his game plan, drove it beautifully and hit his irons in the correct spots. He played beautifully."
As for Yang, when asked if he would like a re-match with Woods he laughed and said "Never again. I would like to stay the guy who won over Tiger at the PGA Championship and that's it. No re-dos."
So here’s a big Congratulations shout out to Y.E. Yang. He certainly earned himself the Wanamaker.
And I end the day quite a bit surprised that the man on a mission didn’t manage to pull it off.
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