Yang Makes History At PGA Championship
Posted on 16. Aug, 2009 by H. Freeman in Leaderboard
After the first two rounds of the PGA Championship this week, the only question in my mind was how many shots would be between Tiger and the rest of the field Sunday evening. I’m not sure what happened between then and now, except that three shots separate Y.E. Yang and Tiger, with Tiger finishing in a place he isn’t so accustomed to – 2nd.
In fact, Tiger has never lost a lead heading into the final round of a major, but that’s not the only first time occurrence that happened this weekend. Yang became the first Asian born player to win a major on the PGA Tour. Not just that, but he stared down and beat up Tiger along the way. He executed shots and made putts under the “playing in the final group with Tiger” pressure that not many have ever done before.
Literally, nobody has ever done it like Yang. Never before have we seen Tiger with his head down and shoulders slumped after a round where he started with the lead. Not only were spectators around the world shocked, but Tiger even seemed to be in a state of disbelief. A combination of missed putt after missed putt from Tiger and clutch shots and a stellar short game from Yang was enough for a three shot win. I’m just hoping that people don’t call it Tiger losing the tournament, because even though he lost a lead and shot 75, Yang deserves the credit for going out and doing what it took to get the victory.
“A bad day at the wrong time,” as Tiger put it, and a “perfect day at the right time,” as Yang probably put it (didn’t hear him interviewed). Either way, Y.E. is this years PGA Champion and deserves all the credit. Tiger was gracious in defeat in his post round press conference, and this is just something else to stir into his pot of motivation that will probably spew over into next year. Since I know you’re reading this, Yang, congrats to you! Well done, sir!
One more thing! I’m getting really tired of people calling Tiger out for “misbehaving” after bad shots. Getting mad at him for slamming clubs, stomping his feet, or even cursing at times is ridiculous in my opinion. Trust me, I’m all for golf being a gentleman’s game and playing with a certain etiquette, but let the guy be the competitor that he is for crying out loud! He is where he is today because of a competitive drive that no one in sports can match, and if you want to take the emotion he displays away from him, the spectacular shots and incredible feats will most likely fly out the window with it. We watch other sports where the players act in a way the make Tiger look like a Disney movie, so I really don’t see what the big deal is. Sure, we want golf to be “different” or “above” the poor sportsmanship that occurs in other sporting arenas, but please people, let Tiger be Tiger, or we will lose one of the best competitors in the history of sports. That is all.
