Saturday 30 January 2010

Sporting Picks of 2009, Part 5 - August 16th

Yang outplays Woods for USPGA win

South Korea's Yang Yong-Eun became the first Asian-born male winner of a major championship when he beat Tiger Woods to clinch the USPGA title at Hazeltine. The 37-year-old was two shots adrift of overnight leader Woods but held his nerve to card 70 to the American's 75 to win by three on the final green.


Yang's victory ended Woods's run of winning all 14 of his major titles when leading going into the final round.


Yang’s victory in a major golf championship has been long awaited bearing in mind the contribution Asian golfers, and in particular Japanese golfers, have made to their sport.

However the player who went into the last day as the leader was the World number one and arguably the sportsperson of the decade – Tiger Woods. Every one of his 14 majors have been won from the front, with only this event 10 years ago being the only major won where Woods encountered resistance on the last day.

With hindsight it could be argued that Woods performance in the majors in 2009 were a harbinger of the troubles he would find himself in. He did not challenge in any of the other majors and at Turnbery in the Open, Woods failed to make the cut for the first time in a major as a professional.

Stories of Wood’s alleged frat boy morals eventually surfaced in November, as Woods was involved in an incident outside his home. The downfall of what many people (but not myself) consider the finest golfer ever has been sudden and has put his many achievements in the shade.

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