Y.E. Yang Snaps Woods' Streak at 91st PGA Championship

Make no mistake, Y.E.Yang flat out beat Tiger Woods to capture the 91st PGA Championship at Hazeltine ending Woods 14 major tournament winning streak when holding the 54 hole lead. Yang's final round 70 earned him a three shot win after Woods' 75 put the streak in it's final resting place. Y.E. finished the tourney at -8. I suppose it was inevitable. After all, Jack Nicklaus finished 2nd a record 19 times in majors. Granted, Woods' 33 whacks with the flat stick in the final round didn't help his cause, but it was Yang who chipped in for eagle on the drivable par four 14th and it was Yang who stuck it to eight feet from 207 yards on 18 to set up just the third birdie of the day on the closing hole and seal the deal. Those were shots we've come to expect Woods to pull off under major championship pressure. Yang simply out-Tigered Tiger. Full Field Final Scores.

Consider the fact that Yang didn't begin playing golf until he was 19 years old and then donated 18 months to the Korean army. That's spotting the field a lifetime of experience. His breakthrough win was earlier this year at the Honda Classic. In the short time since then he's demonstrated he's a quick learner. Expect the 37 year old to set off an explosion in Asian golf, a fete accomplished for the women's game by Se Ri Pak. Asia's already building courses like crazy and Yang's triumph is just the catalyst needed to propel the game from the ground up. Golf is truly an international sport with Y.E. Yang's victory the latest exclamation point.

The final men's major of the year is really the curtain drop for the 2009 men's professional season. Everything else is just an encore with us holding the lighters in the dark. Average Golfer will still pay attention of course, especially this week's Solheim Cup being of interest, but the influence of international players dents some venerable events. The Ryder Cup and the Solheim Cup may have to revisit their protocol with so many top players coming from outside Europe and the US. The contrived Fedex Cup hasn't gotten much of my interest other than it being a ridiculous pay day. Your opinions?

Finally..............Congrats to Y.E. Yang!




Til' next,

Halfway at Hazeltine - Tiger's Tail Lights

A four stroke lead at the mid point of a major for Tiger Woods is almost too much to rally from. Woods shot a -2, 70 today and put the clubs away carrying a four stroke advantage over a host of challengers at the 91st PGA Championship. Only a sloppy chip and errant ten footer by Woods on the 18th hole kept it from being five. Padraig Harrington did his best to remain within sniffing distance, but backpedaled 3 strokes to land at -3 for the tourney so far. He was grouped with Ross Fisher with a stellar 68, Lucas Glover, Brendan Jones, and two-time PGA Champion Vijay Singh. Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood held up the Brit contingent at -2. Full field scores.

Who's gone?

Big names sent packing by missing the +4 cut include Stuart Appleby, Sergio Garcia, 78 today, Davis Love III, Justin Rose, Bubba Watson, Nick Watney, Steve Stricker, and Adam Scott after a dreadful 82, 79. Rumor says that Scott has jettisoned Butch Harmon as his coach after watching his career sink. Perhaps Butchie will call JD.

What's next?

What's up next is for the one or more of the chasers to step up tomorrow, fire at pins, and hope to go low in an effort to chase down Woods. From what I've seen of Hazeltine so far it doesn't appear to be the type of layout where Woods would post any huge numbers and retreat back to the masses. Relatively open, plenty long and drying out play to Woods strong suits, length and the world's best short game for the inevitable missed greens on enormous holes, especially the par fours. The poa greens that Woods putts better than anyone are just frosting. He's swinging well and I wouldn't count on that changing in the next two days. So who has the moxy and game to back it up to narrow the deficit? Tune in, tomorrow should reveal most of the remaining cards in this deck. I expect Sunday will be a barn burner or a coronation. Saturday's the key in this one.

Be there.




Til' next,

Tiger Woods Waltzes Into 91st PGA Championship.

It would be hard to imagine coming into the last major of the year on a hotter streak than Tiger Woods. Victories in his last two tournaments, albeit almost by default last week at the WGC-Bridestone Invitational, bode well for fine performance from him at the 91st PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, MN. 99 of the top 100 world ranked players are here, so this is no cakewalk. Regardless, Woods seems to be the best equipped for the challenge. Factor in his obvious desire to snag one major to complete his year and continued chase of Jack and this should be riveting. 91st PGA Championship Full Field.

Hazeltine will play as the longest major in history at 7,674 yards. That's 4.36 miles in layman's terms, longer than 10th grade math. Many players interviewed however have commented that the course is "right there in front of you", meaning the length is mitigated somewhat by be able to see where you need to position yourself to hit fairways and greens. Longish clubs into par four greens will be the order of the day with the difference being Tiger's 3 iron vs Jim Furyk's hybrid, neither club described as a scoring implement. So, as fitting in a major, par should be precious with expected bogeys figuring into the mix. Weather and wetness will be the unknown. A wet course will decidedly favor bombers, while if the fairways dry, the field should crowd up.

Tiger, defending champion Padraig Harrington, and Rich Beem, the 2002 winner here, will share a pairing for the first two days. Interesting group considering what transpired at the end of last week's event. I'll be paying attention to the pace of play, although I doubt it will be foremost on PGA Tour official's work lists on Thursday. Average Golfer knows that pace of play is a hot button issue and negatively affects the game in general. Still, as in other sports, I feel that officials should never become part of the outcome or even the story. The answer? Of course I have none.

Stayed tuned for picks and odds tomorrow.



Til' next,