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Golf Capsules: PGA champ is farmer's son who picked up golf at 19
JEJU, South Korea — Baseball, basketball, soccer, volleyball. Y.E. Yang played them all as a child.
Everything but golf, considered a sport of the elite, with green fees costing several hundred dollars a round.
So it wasn't until he was 19 that Yang, the son of vegetable farmers, picked up an iron at the country club where he took a low-paying job scooping up golf balls. Practicing late into the night after patrons had gone, he soon became good enough to turn pro.
His father was not impressed.
"Golf is for rich people. Why are you trying to become a golfer? Please don't do it," Yang Han-joon recalled begging his son, the fourth of eight children.
Funny how things turn out.
The 37-year-old Yang, who was in PGA Tour qualifying school nine months ago, became the first Asian-born man to capture a major title with a series of spectacular shots on the back nine of Hazeltine.
Even more memorable was the guy he beat to win the PGA tournament — Tiger Woods. It was the first time golf's No. 1 player lost a major while atop the leaderboard going into the final round.
Just like that, a player ranked No. 110 in the world became the pride of a golf-crazy nation, as well as the toast of a continent.
"Congratulations to Yang Yong-eun for being the first Asian to win the PGA!" read hastily made banners hanging at the Ora Country Club, on the resort island of Jeju, where Yang's family lives.
The island, famous for its waterfalls, volcanoes, seafood and sunshine, is a popular honeymoon spot and in recent years has become a luxury golf destination.
Yang's father admits trying to pressure his son to join him in the fields.
"I had no idea what golf was — that's why I was opposed to golf," he told The Associated Press during an interview interrupted every few minutes by calls from well-wishers.
But Yang's mother, Ko Hee-soon, said Yang was always determined to leave their tough life behind.
"When we urged him to go into farming, he would say: 'I'm not going to live like my father,'" she recalled, beaming. Ko said they would throw a party to celebrate his victory, which came shortly after sunrise Monday from half a world away in Chaska, Minn.
Yang, now married with three sons, has earned more than $3.2 million on the tour, including $1.35 million for the PGA Championship.
His older brother, Yang Yong-hyuk, was up all night watching Yang on TV.
"I am so happy and proud of him. What else can I feel?" he told the AP. "Since he has finally reached the peak, I hope that he will work even harder to become better and defend his position."
Golf coach Kim Won-jun, 43, said Yang's nerves of steel set him apart from other players.
"I personally know Yang, and what distinguishes him from other players is his emotional stability," he said. "He is in total control during his game, so when he has the chance, he's able to immediately seize it."
Unlike other players, Yang is not intimidated by Woods, said Shane Hahm, who covers sports for Seoul radio station TBS eFM.
"Yang is not fazed by all the media and ... the size of the gallery that follows Tiger — that's really what gets into other players' heads," he said.
It still comes down to what he did and how he did it, Hahm said.
"For the first Asian-born player to win, it's pretty historically significant," he said. "It's just unbelievable the way he did it, too, by beating the No. 1 player in the world."
The Korea Professional Golfers' Association even joked that Yang deserves a new moniker: "Tiger Killer."
And though Woods, whose mother is Thai, is celebrated across Asia, the region now has a homegrown men's champion in addition to Fiji's Vijay Singh.
"It's a great, great day for Asian golf," Asian Tour executive chairman Kyi Hla Han said. "Probably our biggest day. It's always been our hope that we will see an Asian player win a major, and that day is here."
Max Garske, chief executive of the PGA of Australia, said Yang's win will help nurture the sport in the region.
"We need a couple of Asian heroes," he said.
Garske said Japan, with 17-year-old star Ryo Ishikawa, has some 15 million golfers and South Korea 3 million to 3.5 million.
There are about 3,500 golf courses in Japan, where an 18-hole round can cost up to $500 to play, and just 200 quality courses in South Korea.
Garske said the biggest room for growth is in China, with some 1.1 million duffers with golf memberships and more than 350 courses.
Since Se Ri Park captured the LPGA title and the U.S. Women's Open in 1998, South Korea has undergone a golfing renaissance, with sleek new resorts sprouting up across the nation and golfers packing indoor "screen golf" virtual driving ranges for quick fixes.
South Korean women now dominate the LPGA Tour, with eight players together winning a combined 11 majors. But the men have been slower to succeed: Yang and K.J. Choi are the only PGA Tour players who learned the game in South Korea before heading for the United States.
Across South Korea, golf fans set their alarms for 4 a.m. to watch the final round live on TV and, of course, root for Yang, known as "Son of the Wind" for his consistency, even on windy days.
South Korea's president, Lee Myung-bak, also woke up before dawn to see Yang play and later phoned to congratulate the champion.
"I woke up at dawn today to watch the broadcast, and you played in a calm manner," Lee told Yang, according to Lee's office. "First of all, you enhanced our people's morale by winning the major title for the first time as an Asian."
Lee also praised Yang for persevering despite personal difficulties, calling his win a "come-from-behind victory" that was all the more valuable because of his life story, Lee's office said.
Yang, whose full name is Yang Yong-eun, calls himself an "average Joe" who once aspired to be a bodybuilder and dreamed of owning his own gym.
A knee injury forced him to reconsider that career, and that's when he took the job at the golf resort.
Most South Korean golfers go through a rigorous "elite" course for aspiring pros. But Yang was already far older than the students and didn't have the money for lessons or green fees.
He agreed to pick up balls at the country club as a "trainee" in exchange for off-hours access to the driving range and a small monthly wage, officials said.
Yang is legendary for arriving as early as 5 a.m. to practice before the range opened and returning to hit more balls after closing time, stringing up his own lights after dark.
"After the guests left the driving range, he practiced late into the night," recalled Kim Young-chan, executive director of the driving range.
Kim said Yang stood out back then, but he never expected him to beat Woods. He said the PGA final left him "speechless."
Han Jae-young, a current trainee, said Yang is said to have taught himself the finer points of the sport by watching other golfers at the club.
"He became a legend for trainees like me," he said, giving young players the motivation to keep practicing on their own.
After a few years, and having played only about 100 rounds of golf, Yang left for compulsory military service. When he was done, Yang went to New Zealand to play golf intensively for three months. In 1996, he turned pro — only five years after he first picked up a club.
Yang victory redefines 'global golf'
CHASKA, Minn. — For years, Asian countries could only boast about growth and potential in men's golf. Success was measured by a half-dozen players who had cracked the top 50 in the world rankings over the last decade.
It took Y.E. Yang and his stunning victory over Tiger Woods to make them a major part of the conversation.
"We've been waiting for quite a number of years for this," said Peter Dawson, chief executive of the hallowed Royal & Ancient Golf Club in Scotland. "Perhaps the PGA Championship was not the one we were expecting. But it's great for golf. It's great for Korea. It's great for Asia. And it's very timely for getting back into the Olympics.
"It's a fantastic day for golf."
Until the 2009 PGA Championship, players from every continent except Asia and Antarctica had captured a major championship over the last three years as "global golf" became a buzz term.
That changed Sunday at Hazeltine when Yang, a 37-year-old South Korean, delivered a shot felt across oceans. Leading by one shot against the world's No. 1 player on the 18th hole, he struck a 3-iron hybrid from 210 yards around a tree, barely over a bunker and onto the green about 12 feet from the cup.
In the immediate aftermath, the magnitude of his victory was slow to sink in.
"You never know in life," Yang said. "This might be my last win as a golfer. But it sure is a great day."
The ramifications for South Korea, not to mention all of Asia, may take years to unfold. When Woods won the 1997 Masters by a record 12 shots, many believed it would be a watershed moment for minorities on the PGA Tour. A dozen years later, he remains the tour's only player of black heritage.
The Asian community was desperate for its own champion.
"Growth happens two ways — either stars at the top pulling it up, or grass-roots programs pushing it up," Dawson said. "What Asian countries lacked is enough stars on the international stages. Let's hope it's the first of many, and not a one-off. It's not just Korea, but Japan, India, China, Thailand. They will remember Yang. He'll be a household name in Asia."
Top golf executives have had their eyes on Asia the past several years.
The R&A and Augusta National earlier this year created the Asia Amateur tournament, to be played this fall in China and limited to Asian players, with the winner getting a ticket to the Masters. And the PGA Tour recently joined other tours to turn the HSBC Champions in China — where Yang defeated Woods three years ago — into a World Golf Championship.
Along the way, Asian-born golfers have made inroads.
Jeev Milkha Singh became the first player from India to win on the European Tour and compete in the Masters. Ryo Ishikawa of Japan was 15 when he became the youngest winner on a recognized tour. Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand, who built his first golf club from a bamboo stick and scraps of bicycle tire, contended early at two World Golf Championships this year.
K.J. Choi of South Korea has seven PGA Tour victories, the most of any Asian, and last year climbed as high as No. 5 in the world.
Even so, Asian success in the majors had been relegated to close calls.
There was Liang-Huan Lu of Taiwan finishing one shot behind Lee Trevino at Royal Birkdale in the 1971 British Open, and Isao Aoki of Japan pushing Jack Nicklaus at Baltusrol in the 1980 U.S. Open until he had to settle for second place.
"It was going to happen one day," said Woods, whose heritage is half-Asian through his Thai-born mother. "If anyone would have thought it would have been a Korean player, people probably would have suspected it be K.J., because obviously he's played well for such a long period of time. Y.E. has won now a couple of big events. He's getting better.
"But it was just a matter of time."
The first breakthrough for Japan came in 1957 and what is now the World Cup, won by Torakichi Nakamura and Koichi Ono. For South Korea, major success had been limited to the women, starting with Se Ri Pak's victory in the 1998 U.S. Women's Open. Perhaps no other player from any country has been a greater pioneer: Six other South Korean women have won LPGA majors since then.
Whether Yang's victory has a similar effect will take years to find out.
Wally Uihlein, CEO of the company that owns the Titleist and FootJoy brands, who helped match the China Golf Association and the Australian PGA to develop a teacher certification program in China, says growth depends on many factors.
Among them are a strong middle class, a golf teaching program, ample places to play — driving ranges are as important as golf courses — and the presence of the professional game. If Yang's victory has a ripple effect, he believes the biggest waves will be in Korea.
"Korea is in a league of its own, and no one should be surprised with their success in men's and women's golf," Uihlein said in an e-mail Monday morning. "It has been taking shape for the past 10 years."
Yang's victory at the PGA Championship comes nearly one year after 18-year-old Danny Lee, who was born in South Korea and raised in New Zealand, won the U.S. Amateur to replace Woods in the record book as the youngest champion.
Two years ago, Seung Yul Noh had the lowest qualifying score in the U.S. Junior Amateur.
"As to its impact on some of the other countries in the Pacific Basin, that remains to be seen," Uihlein wrote. "One could argue as competitive as the region is, if Korea steps on the pedal, then the other countries will too, so as not to be left too far behind."
At the moment, Yang stands alone — the first Asian-born man to win a major, the first player anywhere to beat Woods after he led going into the last round of a major.
"This is heartening," Dawson said. "This is long overdue."
-- Doug Ferguson
Yang's win inspires Asian golfers around the world
LOS ANGELES — The morning after Y.E. Yang became the first Asian golfer to win a major championship, Peter Cho was too excited to go to work.
So he grabbed his teenage son, Alex, and headed for the driving range.
The Chos were hitting balls Monday morning at Majestic Golf Land, a three-story golf center near the city's Koreatown neighborhood.
For South Koreans, Yang's stunning win — over Tiger Woods, no less — in the PGA Championship was inspiring, even though many are Tiger fans.
"When Tiger wins, Korea's happy. When a Korean wins, Korea's happier," Cho said. "It couldn't be any better for us."
The golf world was still abuzz Monday after Yang's astonishing victory. The South Korean who grew up on a root-vegetable farm and had frustrated ambitions of being a body builder beat the world's best golfer.
And did he ever do it in style — fending off Tiger with a couple of seriously ice-cold shots. First there was that 60-foot chip for eagle after Woods threatened to make birdie on No. 14.
And on the last hole, clinging to a one-shot lead against the man who had never before lost when he started the final round of a major atop the leaderboard, Yang hit the shot of his life. His 3-iron hybrid cleared a bunker and settled 12 feet away.
Yang finished off the birdie for a championship he — and new fans all over the world — won't forget.
At the urban island of Majestic, rising green above a busy city center, most of the patrons are Korean. Signs are written in both Korean and English, and the newspaper boxes at the entrance carry the local Korean dailies.
Some of the golfers said they called home to Korea and heard about celebrations — not unlike the commotion in 1998 when South Korea's Se Ri Pak won the U.S. Women's Open.
Myung Kim, a South Korean-born golf pro at the range, said he knew that someday, someone would beat Woods.
"He's not a god," said Kim, 44. "I'm happy the Korean guy beat him."
Not everyone at the range shared in the glee.
"I felt bad for Tiger — he returned to humanity," said Bob Ingram, 56, of Los Angeles.
Sisters Penny and Peggy Kritaya were taking the loss hard. Penny furrowed her brow and paced the range's deck as she recapped Woods' round Sunday.
"I just don't understand why!" she said, throwing up her hands in exasperation like a frustrated coach.
Hailing from Thailand themselves, the sisters said Woods' Thai heritage got their attention in the mid-1990s.
Now, they come to the range three or four times per week and call themselves "big, huge Tiger fans."
"He changed us," Penny said. "He got us into the golf game."
While Woods, whose mother is Thai, is celebrated across Asia, the region now has a homegrown men's champion, too.
"It's a great, great day for Asian golf," Asian Tour executive chairman Kyi Hla Han told The Associated Press. "Probably our biggest day. It's always been our hope that we will see an Asian player win a major, and that day is here."
Suh Gee-young, who woke up early in Seoul to watch the tournament and take a few practice swings before work, called Yang an inspiration to other Asian-born players.
"I think Yang's victory will give young Asian players a confidence that they can beat the odds in any situation," he said in Seoul.
Max Garske, chief executive of the PGA of Australia, said Yang's win will help nurture the sport in the region. He said Japan, with 17-year-old star Ryo Ishikawa, has some 15 million golfers and South Korea 3 million to 3.5 million, most playing only at driving ranges.
He said Yang's win will also help in China, where the Australian PGA is in the second year of a program with the China Golf Association to train between 5,000 to 10,000 local Chinese coaches.
In New York, Yang's victory dominated the clubhouse chatter Monday morning at Clearview Golf Course, a busy Queens layout.
"He's strong in heart," Han Chondson said before her round.
She was one of the many Koreans at the Bayside course that serves kimchi, the spicy pickled cabbage that is a Korean favorite.
"I've played golf all my life and it's really surprising to me that he won a major," 52-year-old Johnny Park said. "But he had experience beating Tiger in China and really had nothing to lose. I was really happy for him, but surprised Tiger lost."
Park was giving some thought to watching Yang play in person next week at The Barclays, the FedEx Cup opener at Liberty National in Jersey City, N.J.
"Before his win, I never even thought about going," Park said.
At Alley Pond Golf Center in Douglaston, N.Y., teaching pro Michael Jang pointed out Yang's poise playing alongside Woods.
"I don't think he was afraid of Tiger," Jang said. "He had nothing to lose and that's the best kind of mindset, to just play and enjoy the round with Tiger.
"Most of the older pros in Korea, like Yang and K.J. Choi, never had money growing up or parents who knew about golf. They had to do it all by themselves and had to work really hard to make it. That's what makes them so strong."
The 38-year-old Jang will long remember Yang's breakthrough victory.
"I became a U.S. citizen, but I got Korean blood in my heart," Jang said.
-- Michelle Rendels
No flash in the pan: Daly returns to Aussie Open
SYDNEY — John Daly is set to return to the Australian Open a year after being fined for smashing a fan's camera into a tree during the tournament.
Golf Australia announced Tuesday that the two-time major winner is in the field for the tournament at Sydney's New South Wales Golf Club from Dec. 3-6.
"I am looking forward to returning to play the 2009 Australian Open and am particularly excited about playing the course at La Perouse for the first time. I have heard so many great things about the course," Daly said in a statement.
Daly, the 1991 PGA Championship winner and 1995 British Open champion, has a strong following Down Under, although his image might have altered when he flies back to Australia due to his dramatic weight loss following lap-band surgery.
He will play the Australian PGA Championship at Coolum, on Queensland state's Sunshine Coast, the week after the Australian Open.
Daly received a suspended fine from the PGA of Australia at the last Australian Open after taking a spectator's camera and throwing it at a tree at Royal Sydney's 9th hole. Open organizers took no action, saying Daly had been bothered by the man, who was taking photos at close range despite the fact the general public was banned from taking cameras onto the course.
Daly missed three consecutive cuts last year on a late-season trip to Australia, where his history extends back seven years at Coolum. After taking a triple-bogey 7 on his last hole at the 2002 Australian PGA championships, Daly threw his putter and ball into a greenside pond and later failed to sign for a 78 on his scorecard, disqualifying himself from the tournament.
He was later fined by the Australasian PGA Tour and was ordered to write a letter of apology to a tour official he verbally abused.
Daly recently returned to the U.S. PGA Tour following a six-month suspension for several off-course incidents.
He played mostly in Europe in the interim but recently played six tournaments in a row in five countries leading into last week's PGA Championship in Minnesota, where he withdrew after a 78 in the first round.
He cited an injury he said dated back three years to when he tried to stop mid-swing when he heard the sound of a camera as he was taking a shot.
"Flash camera back injury from 3 yrs ago still haunting me — pain is just unbearable making it tough to play," he posted on Twitter.
Former Arkansas golfer gets exemption for Rogers
ROGERS, Ark. — Former University of Arkansas golfer Lucy Nunn has been granted a sponsor's exemption to the LPGA's event in northwest Arkansas next month.
Nunn and Ladies European Tour member Maria Verchenova can play in the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship presented by John Q. Hammons. This will be Nunn's first LPGA event since this same tournament last year. The event is Sept. 11-13 at Pinnacle Country Club.
