Tiger's Wire to Wire PGA Victory Gets Short Circuited by Yang!

The 91st PGA Championship was played this year ata number of holes and left himself much longer
Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.approach shots than Yang and this tactic may have
Tiger Woods has been victorious in 14 out of 14ultimately lent itself to Tiger's demise and loss of the
attempts in the major championships when leading orchampionship.
sharing the lead after 54 holes. Tiger game has beenI know the missed cut at the British Open did not sit
sharp over the last few weeks, including back towell with Tiger and I'm sure he worked even harder
back victories in the 51st and final playing of thewith his coach, Hank Haney, to correct any swing
Buick Open, which he has dominated so brilliantly overfaults in preparation for the PGA Championship.
the years and also the WGC - BridgestoneSecond place is not a bad spot to be in but
Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron Ohio.unacceptable by Tiger's standards. I'm sure he would
He beat the field handily by three and four strokeshave much rather have today's headline read " Tiger's
respectively thus dispelling any doubts about hisWins Wire to Wire Victory in PGA Championship" or
return to true Tiger form. Yang also made some"Tiger wins 15th Major" or "Tiger Edges Closer to
noise and came in alone in 5th place at the Buick, tiedJack Nicklaus's Record 18 Majors and Sam Snead's all
for 19th at Firestone and has played well as of latetime 82 Victory Record" but it was not to be this
and stood at 110 in the World Rankings until his PGAtime. It just goes to show that even the infallible
win, which should put him well ahead of that number.TIger Woods is human and can lose when the chips
I must take a moment to ask, "What happened todo not fall in his direction. This is the fourth straight
Padraig Harrington?" Having started the day at -6 andmajor with an unlikely victor accepting the trophy. In
in excellent position to make a run at the title, heThe Masters, Angel Cabrera held off late charges by
dropped off the leader board and shot 78 to putTiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, who blew
himself out of the running for back to back titles andopportunities on the final nine on Sunday and Chad
another Wanamaker Trophy. It makes me seriouslyCampbell and Kenny Perry, who had it sewed up at
wonder whether Padraig would have been victoriousthe 16th until he bogied both finishing holes to force a
in last year's two final majors, the British Open andplayoff in which he lost to Angel.
the PGA, since he has faltered in both the BuickAt the U.S. Open, Phil Mickelson was once again in
Open and the 2009 PGA when Tiger Woods was incontention on Sunday and playing his heart out for
the field. It may be the intimidation factor thatwife Amy who requested him to win, along with
exudes with Woods mere presence, which couldDavid Duval and Ricky Barnes who could not hold on
affect Padraig Harrington's performance when goingto a 6 stroke lead and who both allowed Lucas
head to head with Tiger. There are many players soGlover to snatch victory right out from under them.
affected but it did not seem to bother P.E. Yang onThen, an unprecedented performance in The British
the back nine on Sunday, or for that matter at anyOpen by Tom Watson, who should have and could
time in the final round. He play well throughout thehave won but Stewart Cink tied him on the 18th and
round and his only hiccup came on 17 when he threehandily beat him in the playoff that ensued. Finally, in
putted for bogie and left the door open for Tiger.the PGA, what can I say, Tiger Woods beaten by
Tiger pulled his approach shot left and in the roughP.E. Yang on the back nine on Sunday. Who could
just off the green. His attempt to chip out left himhave imagined a more implausible ending to the last
short and he could not convert the par putt to returnmajor of the season, given Tiger's two stroke lead
to -7 and a tie with Yang going into the final hole. Iat the turn. This is the time when Tiger usually
guess you could say he did not Wan-a-maker, a littlemakes his move and can catch an opponent with a
play on words there. Yang's second shot on 18, afour stroke lead or more when he turns it on. A
hybrid to approximately 8 feet, all but sewed up theTiger Woods Major victory was not in the cards this
title for him. Tiger needed to hit his approach shotyear and his continuing quest toward Jack Nicklaus's
stiff if he were to have any chance but instead herecord will have to wait until 2010. Please note that
over shot the green and again left himself with aTiger's season has been very successful, as he is the
difficult shot from the rough to birdie or even par theleading money winner, the leader in the Fed Ex and
hole, which he ultimately failed to do. Tiger had toPresidents Cup standings, not to mention his long
settle for bogie to Yang's birdie leaving him anstanding status as # 1 in the World Ranking which
unprecedented three shots back at -5. Yang finishedremains intact. His next opportunity will come in the
at -8, where Tiger had started for the day. WhenFed Ex Cup where he can add another victory and
Tiger was ahead by two shots at the turn, I said tomove closer to Sam Snead's all time victory total of
myself, "This PGA is over", but Yang had other ideas.82. Not too shabby from a player who is still
P.E. Yang played well, no two ways about it. Itsomewhat recovering from his ACL knee surgery of
seemed that Tiger uncharacteristically changed hislast year.
strategy mid-round to a more conservative approachCongratulations to P.E. Yang for his victory in the 91st
which is atypical for him. He appeared to bePGA Championship and his stellar play over all four
protecting his two stroke lead instead of his normalrounds, especially on the back nine on Sunday against
aggressive style and using his unequivocal ability tothe world's best player, Tiger Woods. Happy Golfing
expand that lead to three, four or even five strokes.to All!
He did not appear to trust his game as he laid up on