Yang could become Tiger's Achilles heel

Yang Yong-Eun did the unimaginable not once but twice, beating the world's top golfer in a Sunday final round and proving that Tiger Woods is indeed human after all.

The 37-year-old affable South Korean emerged from golfing obscurity by defeating Woods by two shots to win the 2006 HSBC Champions in Shanghai. Now 33 months later, he validated that victory by rallying past Woods in the final round to win the 91st PGA Championship to become the first Asian to win a major championship.

"You never know in life," Yang said. "This might be my last win as a golfer, but it sure is a great day."

It remains to be seen whether Yang has the staying power to win consistantly on the PGA Tour. He certainly showed Sunday he has the physical and mental tools to do it after taming Woods and the Hazeltine National Golf Club, the longest course of any tournament in major championship history.

But one has to wonder if the 110th ranked Yang will win another major or simply become the journeyman who steps it up occasionally to play the role of the spoiler?

Superman had kryptonite, Pete Sampras had Wayne Ferreira and maybe Tiger Woods has Yang Yong-Eun.

Sampras won 14 Grand Slam titles in his brilliant ATP tennis career and would blitz the field on most days but had a mediocre record whenever he faced journeyman Wayne Ferreira. In their 13 career meetings, Ferreira managed to take six of them.

The South African never cracked the top five in men's rankings and he never got to face Sampras in a Grand Slam final or he might have a major championship like Yang.

CHASKA, Minnesota, AFP