Update= Yang did it. He made a birdie at the 18th hole to beat Tiger Woods by three shots. Just unbelievable but Yang played great today and is a deserving winner.

After taking the lead at 14, Yang matched Woods stroke for stroke on holes 15-17.  That didn’t mean the holes were without drama. On 16, Yang pushed his 2nd shot perilously close to Lake Hazeltine. The ball missing the hazard by a couple of feet at most.

At 17, Woods flew the green after Yang put his on about 30 feet from the hole. Woods pitch to the green wasn’t very good and Yang looked certain to pick up a stroke. Then Yang hit probably his worst shot of the day. His first putt came up eight feet short. He and Woods both ended up bogeying the 17th hole.

Yang hit his drive on 18 down the left side. Which gave him a problematical 2nd shot. This because the pin was on the left and there were trees between Yang and the hole. Woods was in the fairway and the pressure was on. Yang then almost holed his second shot before the ball settled seven feet past the hole. This forced Woods to try making a miracle shot. It wasn’t even close. Woods made bogey at 18 and Yang a birdie.  A golfer who I a self admitted golf nut hadn’t heard of before March 2009, had just won one of golf’s majors by outdueling Tiger Woods on Sunday.

The rest of my original post is below.

Tiger Woods opened the final round with a two-shot lead over Yang and Padraig Harrington. Other golfers were close by but Woods with a Sunday lead looked on his way to major championship number 15.  If anyone would make a challenge to Woods, Harrington was the obvious choice. He is the defending PGA Champion and the 2007 and 2008 British Open Champ.

Not so fast.  Yang, who is playing with Woods and is the 2009 Honda Classic winner, birdied the 3rd hole a par five. Woods could make no better than a par. Then Woods made bogey at the 4th hole and all of a sudden there was a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard.

Woods played the next nine holes in even par and never once fell out of at least a tie for the lead. Yang, who has never factored in a major championship, matched Woods stroke for stroke. In the mean time Harrington fell out of contention after making a quintuple bogey eight on the par 3 8th hole.

The 14th hole at Hazeltine is a drivable par 4. Woods and Yang both went for the green but came up short and right. Woods was in a bunker and Yang just off the green in the short grass.

Woods hit first. Blasting his bunker shot to less than ten feet. Yang then rolled his chip shot into the hole for an eagle. Woods made his putt and for the first time Woods was not in the lead of the PGA Championship this weekend.

Yang and Woods are now playing the par 5 15th. CBS keeps stating no Asian golfer has ever won a men’s professional golf major championship.  Someone might want to point out to the media that Vijay Singh is both of Indian descent and from the island of Fiji. I know that’s Pacific Islander . Tiger has a Thai mother. So if Yang hangs on, is he the first Asian winner? I’ll update this post as the tournament plays itself out.