Y.E. Yang upsets Tiger Woods at PGA to become first Asian-born major champion

CHASKA, Minn. -- And so ends the Year of the Buzzkill.

Korea's Y.E. Yang made sure the major championship season concluded just as it began -- in disbelief and discombobulation. On Sunday, Yang did what had never been done, what we weren't entirely sure was possible, when he came from behind to snatch the 91st PGA Championship from the heretofore invincible Tiger Woods in a tense, thrilling finish at Hazeltine National.

It was a jaw-dropping finale -- thanks to Yang's scintillating hybrid shot to 10 feet on the 72nd green for the clinching birdie -- to a jaw-dropping year. Nothing happened the way it was supposed to in the 2009 majors, or so it seemed. The winners weren't necessarily the people's choices or the biggest names, and the stories weren't the stories that most of the writers were hoping to write.

Think back. Nice guy Kenny Perry becomes the oldest Masters champion at 48? Oops! Say hello to Angel Cabrera. Phil Mickelson finally gets his U.S. Open, after so many near misses, as his wife is fighting breast cancer? Oops! Say hello to humble nice guy Lucas Glover. Tom Watson goes three up on Father Time to become the golfing miracle of the ages by winning the British Open at 59? Oops! He badly misses his last par putt and suffers through a deflating playoff to Stewart Cink, the champion golfer (and golfing Twitterer) of the year.

Woods continues to rewrite the history books in the year's last major? Oops! Say hello to Yang, a late-blooming 37-year-old who once guarded a naval port during a mandatory tour of duty in the South Korean military and who was first noticed in America when he won this year's Honda Classic.

Yang's beating Tiger ranks with the greatest upsets in golfing history -- Francis Ouimet over Harry Vardon, Jack Fleck over Ben Hogan and Brian Barnes over Jack Nicklaus (twice in one day during the Ryder Cup).

"This might be my last win as a golfer," said Yang, who won over interviewers with his enthusiasm and humor, which was apparent even through an interpreter, "but it sure is a great day. It means the world right now."

At Hazeltine, we were expecting to see history. This was going to be Tiger's 15th major, which would've made it mathematically possible for him to pass Jack Nicklaus's 18 by the end of next year. (Now Jack is safe until 2011.) Few saw this one coming. Not when Tiger had already won four PGA Championships and was poised to land career victory No. 71 to move within two of Nicklaus in that category. Instead, we saw history of a different sort.

Tiger had never lost a major after starting the final round with the lead. Oddly enough, Woods had been criticized by some during his comeback from knee surgery for his ballstriking and swing, but on Sunday it was his putter that let him down. Woods, who had 33 putts, made only one of any significance, a clutch birdie at the 14th hole after Yang chipped in for a stunning eagle to take the lead.

"I played well enough to win the championship," Woods said. "I did not putt well enough to win the championship today. I didn't get it done on the greens, and consequently, I didn't win the tournament."