In winning the 2009 USPGA Championship, TaylorMade-adidas Golf Tour Staff professional Y.E. Yang completed one of the most difficult and daunting challenges in all of sports, one that no golfer had ever successfully completed: He overtook third-round leader Tiger Woods in the final round of a major championship and held him off. Playing steady, occasionally spectacular golf, Yang showed tremendous courage and control in the face of the largest gallery he‘d ever competed before.
Highlights of Yang‘s final round included a deft chip-in for eagle on the drivable par-four 14th and, with a one-shot lead on the final hole, a laser-like Rescue® TP 3 hybrid to eight feet. He played a TaylorMade® TP Red™ ball and TaylorMade driver, hybrids and irons, and wore a TaylorMade TP glove and adidas Golf TOUR360 3.0 footwear.
It was a stunning, thrilling and popular victory for the affable Yang, who lives in Dallas and is completing his first full year of competition on the PGA Tour.
Perhaps he himself delivered the best explanation for the tournament‘s remarkable outcome during his press conference Saturday after the third round when he said: "You never know in the world of sports and the game of golf. So I‘ll just try to make every shot, just focus on every shot that I have. And then tomorrow I may end up inside the top 10, top three and even win the USPGA Championship. You never know."
The win made Yang the first Asian-born player to win a major championship, elevated him 76 spots in the World Golf Rankings to No. 34, and earned him a berth on the International team in the 2009 Presidents Cup Matches.
"You never know in life," Yang said. "This might be my last win as a golfer, but it sure is a great day. It‘s going to be a big foundation for me to continue playing at the top level, which is the PGA Tour, and golf in America. And it just means the world right now. It hasn‘t really sunk in, but I do know the significance of it."
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