Wow. Tiger was 14-0 going into Sunday of a major with the lead. And he lost to Y.E. Yang? Who?!? Amazing, well played Y.E. Read more from the LATimes.com:
Reporting from Chaska, Minn. - When the final book on Tiger Woods is written, these two names will need to be highlighted: Ed Fiori, Y.E. Yang.
Not Sergio Garcia. Not Phil Mickelson. Not Ernie Els. At least not yet.
Fiori came from behind to beat Woods on the final day at the 1996 Quad City Classic, and Yang did the unthinkable Sunday, overtaking Woods in the final round of a major, the PGA Championship.
Wearing all white, the ghost-like figure shot a two-under-par 70 to become the first player from Asia to win a men’s major and the first to beat Woods after he had a 54-hole lead in a major. Woods had been 14 for 14 as a closer in majors.
Consider this: Yang started the day as a 20-1 underdog, according to an online sports wagering site. Woods was a 2-9 favorite, roughly the same as Secretariat in his prime against your pet cocker spaniel.
“You never know in life,” Yang said through his interpreter, Ryan Park.
No, you don’t. Woods led or was tied atop the leaderboard until the 14th hole, a drivable par four of 301 yards. Yang knocked in his eagle chip from some 80 feet to take the lead.
He never relinquished it. Woods put himself in position to make birdies at Hazeltine National but couldn’t buy one on the greens.
He spent much of the round muttering to himself in frustration. He had only three one-putts.
“I made absolutely nothing,” he said. “I had a terrible day on the greens. . . . I hit the ball great off the tee, hit my irons well. I did everything I needed to do except get the ball in the hole.”
In shooting a three-over 75, Woods made just two birdies. He didn’t really crack a smile until he graciously congratulated Yang on the 18th green.
“Y.E. hit it great all day,” Woods said. “It was a fun battle.”
The tournament was still in doubt until Yang’s three-hybrid approach on 18.
With 210 yards to the pin from the first cut of rough, he fired at the flag, and his ball settled eight feet from the cup.
Woods, trailing by one, could have chipped in for a birdie that would have forced Yang to make his putt.
Yang, the 37-year-old native of South Korea, doesn’t speak much English. But despite a limited vocabulary, his politeness comes across.
Asked in English to describe his emotions at that moment, he replied: “I think: ‘Tiger, miss the chip-in, please.’ ”
Maybe even pretty please.
Woods did miss, and Yang knocked home the birdie for an eventual three-shot victory.
“He’s a world-class player and he had nothing to lose,” said his caddie, A.J. Montecinos. “He said: ‘I’m not nervous.’ ”
Montecinos, 35, who played for Jackson State and first caddied for Yang at Q-school in 2007, said his boss is a delight.
“He’s very low-key and easy to get to know,” Montecinos said. “When the general public gets to know him, they will fall in love with him. He’s got a heart as big as this place.”
Yang didn’t take up the game in earnest until he was 19. Since 2002, he has won in Korea, Japan and China, and claimed his first PGA Tour title in March at the Honda Classic in Florida.
And now, the man who entered the PGA Championship ranked 110th in the world is a major winner.
“It just means the world right now,” Yang said through his interpreter. “It hasn’t really sunk in, but I do know the significance of it.”
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WatchMojo NewsletterIt was bound to happen. Mark Messier wasn’t going to stay away from hockey for too long and he even hinted at it in this recent interview conducted by WatchMojo:
More info from the BostonHerald.com:
….In February 2007, Messier said publicly that he was discussing a front-office job with the club, although Sather — who served as either coach or general manager of the Edmonton Oilers when Messier won five Cups — denied that he was ready to step down, saying that Messier would be better served by working his way up the ladder.
Now, at 48, the timing is right for Messier and don’t dismiss the possibility that he emerges as the next GM if Sather, 65, eventually steps aside and remains president of the franchise.
“I kind of felt that five years would give me enough of a chance to see the kids grow,” Messier said in a phone interview last night, referring to his last NHL season in 2004. “So now that Glen has invited me, I’m going in with an open mind . .. I’ll be pulling the oars. There’s really nothing solid, but I’m all in. I’ll be at Traverse City (a Michigan prospects tournament in early September) and then training camp.”
Messier — whose No. 11 was retired and raised to the Madison Square Garden rafters Jan. 12, 2006 — will initially familiarize himself with the organization, starting with Rangers prospects and minor-leaguers.
“I am looking forward to … having the opportunity to learn a new part of the business, working closely with Glen,” Messier said in a statement. “I have felt a strong connection to the Rangers, Madison Square Garden and the city of New York from the moment I arrived in 1991. I am honored to begin this new chapter of my career here.”
