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Yang Yong-eun

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Yang Yong-eun
Yang in 2016
Personal information
Full nameYang Yong-eun
NicknameThe Tiger Killer
Born (1972-01-15) 15 January 1972 (age 52)
Sindo-ri, Daejeong-eup, Seogwipo-si Jeju-do, South Korea
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight88 kg (194 lb; 13.9 st)
Sporting nationality South Korea
ResidenceDallas, Texas, U.S.
Career
Turned professional1996
Current tour(s)PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
European Tour
Japan Golf Tour
Asian Tour
Professional wins12
Highest ranking19 (16 May 2010)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour2
European Tour3
Japan Golf Tour5
Asian Tour2
Sunshine Tour1
PGA Tour of Australasia1
Other2
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters TournamentT8: 2010
PGA ChampionshipWon: 2009
U.S. OpenT3: 2011
The Open ChampionshipT16: 2011
Achievements and awards
Korean Tour
Rookie of the Year		1999
Korean Tour
Order of Merit winner		2004, 2006
Korean Tour
Player of the Year		2004, 2006
In this Korean name, the family name is Yang.

Yang Yong-eun (Template:Lang-ko; born 15 January 1972), also called Y. E. Yang, is a South Korean professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He was previously a member of the PGA Tour, where he won twice, including most notably the 2009 PGA Championship when he came from behind to defeat Tiger Woods, thus winning the first major championship by a male player born in Asia. He is occasionally known by the nickname The Tiger Killer.[2]

Professional career

In 2006, Yang won the Korea Open, an Asian Tour event, gaining him entry into the HSBC Champions Tournament in November 2006. He won the tournament, beating a strong field including runner-up Tiger Woods. The victory earned him membership of the European Tour and moved him into the top 40 of the Official World Golf Ranking. In 2008 he played on the PGA Tour after earning his membership through qualifying school; he had to regain his tour card in 2009 after placing 157th on the money list in 2008. Yang won his first title on the PGA Tour at the 2009 Honda Classic in his 46th career start in the United States. With this win, he became only the second Korean after K. J. Choi to win on the PGA Tour.

On 16 August 2009, Yang won the 91st PGA Championship, his first major championship, overcoming a two-shot deficit going into the final round to finish three strokes ahead of Woods, his playing partner.[3] The victory was the first major championship for a male player born in Asia, surpassing the runners-up finishes achieved by Lu Liang-Huan in the 1971 Open Championship, Isao Aoki in the 1980 U.S. Open and Chen Tze-chung in the 1985 U.S. Open. The previous best finish by a Korean was Choi's 3rd place in the 2004 Masters Tournament. It was also the first time that Woods had failed to win a major after holding at least a share of the lead at the end of 54 holes.[4] Yang was ranked 110th worldwide prior to the tournament, but moved up to 34th after the victory.[5] The win earned Yang a five-year PGA Tour exemption and helped him to a top ten finish overall on the PGA Tour.

In April 2010, Yang won the Volvo China Open with a one-under-par 71 final round.[6] In February 2011, Yang had his best run at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship reaching the quarter-finals before eventually succumbing to American Matt Kuchar, 2 & 1. Previously Yang had defeated Álvaro Quirós on the 20th hole in round one, Stewart Cink, 4 & 3, in round two and the 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell in round three, 3 & 2.

The following week Yang was in contention for his 3rd PGA Tour title at The Honda Classic, an event where he had earned his inaugural PGA Tour win in 2009. Despite entering the final round five strokes behind the eventual winner Rory Sabbatini, he was able to close the gap to just one stroke by birdieing the par-three 15th, where he was 18 inches away from a hole in one. However, needing an eagle on the par-five 18th after Sabbatini had stretched his lead to two with a birdie on the par-four 16th, he was unable to hole his bunker shot and a birdie earned him a runner-up finish one stroke behind the winner.

Yang at the 2016 Lyoness Open.

Yang reached a career high OWGR ranking of 19th in 2010, but a string of bad finishes and missed cuts in 2013 and 2014 plummeted the former major winner to 638th at the end of 2014, the final year of his PGA Tour exemption after winning the 2009 PGA Championship. A poor 2014 saw Yang finish well outside the top 150 in the FedEx Cup, which limited him to the Past Champions category for 2015. Yang spent much of 2015 playing on the European Tour and Asian Tour. 2015 saw a resurgence for Yang, making the cut at the PGA Championship for the first time in multiple years. Yang moved up to 262nd in the world by November 2015. After a poor 2016 European Tour season where he finished outside 110th, Yang regained his Tour card through Q School.

In 2021, Yang was disqualified from 103rd PGA Championship at The Ocean Course, Kiawah Island Resort, in South Carolina for signing an incorrect scorecard following the second round.[7]

In February 2022, after turning 50, Yang joined the PGA Tour Champions.

Personal life

Yang was born in the island province of Jeju-do.[8][9] He is the fourth of eight children. He started to play golf at the age of 19 while picking golf balls part-time and, later, working as a golf instructor at Jeju's Ora Country Club. Yang learned by watching the movements of players who visited his golf club. Although he now has coaches, Yang is a self-taught golfer.[10] His brother recommended he try hitting balls at a local driving range. Trying to get a 'proper job', Yang fell down a flight of stairs and tore his ACL[11] while he was learning to use an excavator for a construction company.[12] After recovering from his knee injury, he began mandatory service in the South Korean military at the age of 21.

On conclusion of his service, he moved to New Zealand, where he pursued a professional career in golf. He turned semi-pro on 21 July 1995 and pro on 22 August 1996. Yang is married to Young-Joo Park and has three sons. He is an active owner of an indoor golf range in the Koreatown section of Dallas.[13] He currently resides in Southlake, Texas, near fellow South Korean PGA player K. J. Choi.[13]

Professional wins (12)

PGA Tour wins (2)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runner-up
1 8 Mar 2009 The Honda Classic −9 (68-65-70-68=271) 1 stroke United States John Rollins
2 16 Aug 2009 PGA Championship −8 (73-70-67-70=280) 3 strokes United States Tiger Woods

European Tour wins (3)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other European Tour (2)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 12 Nov 2006
(2007 season) 		HSBC Champions1 −14 (66-72-67-69=274) 2 strokes United States Tiger Woods
2 16 Aug 2009 PGA Championship −8 (73-70-67-70=280) 3 strokes United States Tiger Woods
3 18 Apr 2010 Volvo China Open2 −15 (68-66-68-71=273) 2 strokes Wales Rhys Davies, Wales Stephen Dodd

1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia
2Co-sanctioned by the OneAsia Tour

Japan Golf Tour wins (5)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 8 Aug 2004 Sun Chlorella Classic −13 (67-70-69-69=275) 3 strokes New Zealand David Smail, Taiwan Yeh Wei-tze
2 7 Nov 2004 Asahi-Ryokuken Yomiuri Memorial −17 (69-78-69-65=271) 2 strokes Japan Shingo Katayama
3 9 Oct 2005 Coca-Cola Tokai Classic −18 (66-72-65-67=270) 4 strokes Japan Taichi Teshima
4 10 Sep 2006 Suntory Open −14 (67-68-68-63=266) 6 strokes Japan Hidemasa Hoshino, Japan Toru Taniguchi
5 29 Apr 2018 The Crowns −12 (67-67-67-67=268) 4 strokes South Korea Hwang Jung-gon, Australia Anthony Quayle

Japan Golf Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2006 ABC Championship Japan Shingo Katayama Lost to birdie on second extra hole

Asian Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 24 Sep 2006 Kolon-Hana Bank Korea Open1 −14 (65-67-68-70=270) 3 strokes South Korea Kang Ji-man
2 12 Nov 2006 HSBC Champions2 −14 (66-72-67-69=274) 2 strokes United States Tiger Woods

1Co-sanctioned by the Korean Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the European Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia

OneAsia Tour wins (2)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory 		Runners-up
1 18 Apr 2010 Volvo China Open1 −15 (68-66-68-71=273) 2 strokes Wales Rhys Davies, Wales Stephen Dodd
2 10 Oct 2010 Kolon Korea Open2 −4 (74-71-69-66=280) 2 strokes South Korea Choi Ho-sung, South Korea Kim Bi-o

1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the Korean Tour

OneAsia Tour playoff record (0–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2012 Nanshan China Masters China Liang Wenchong Lost to birdie on fifth extra hole

Korean Tour wins (3)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 3 Nov 2002 SBS Oriental Fire Cup −11 (70-69-68-70=277)
2 24 Sep 2006 Kolon-Hana Bank Korea Open1 −14 (65-67-68-70=270) 3 strokes South Korea Kang Ji-man
3 10 Oct 2010 Kolon Korea Open2 (2) −4 (74-71-69-66=280) 2 strokes South Korea Choi Ho-sung, South Korea Kim Bi-o

1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour
2Co-sanctioned by the OneAsia Tour

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runner-up
2009 PGA Championship 2 shot deficit −8 (73-70-67-70=280) 3 strokes United States Tiger Woods

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Masters Tournament T30 CUT
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship CUT CUT
PGA Championship T47 CUT 1
Tournament 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament T8 T20 T57 CUT CUT
U.S. Open CUT T3 CUT CUT CUT
The Open Championship T60 T16 CUT T32 CUT
PGA Championship CUT T69 T36 CUT CUT T48 CUT CUT CUT
Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship CUT DQ CUT CUT
U.S. Open
The Open Championship NT
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
DQ = disqualified
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 1 2 7 4
PGA Championship 1 0 0 1 1 1 16 5
U.S. Open 0 0 1 1 1 1 6 1
The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 3
Totals 1 0 1 2 3 5 36 13
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (2011 Masters – 2012 Masters)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2009 PGA – 2010 Masters)

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
The Players Championship CUT T34 CUT CUT CUT CUT

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Match Play R64 R32 QF R32
Championship 64 T65 74 T30 T39 59
Invitational T56 T19 T46 T53 T36
Champions T33 T51
  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

Professional

See also

References

  1. ^ "Week 20 2010 Ending 16 May 2010" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Quiet Yang is the Tiger Killer".
  3. ^ Dorman, Larry (16 August 2009). "Y. E. Yang Shocks Woods to Win at P.G.A." The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 December 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  4. ^ "Yang catches Woods for USPGA win". BBC Sport. 16 August 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  5. ^ "Yang beats Tiger and becomes first Asian major winner". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 August 2009.
  6. ^ "Yang eases the pressure with victory". The Irish Times. The Irish Times Limited. 19 April 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  7. ^ Morse, Ben. "Y.E. Yang, the man who beat Tiger Woods to win the 2009 PGA Championship, is disqualified". CNN. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Y. E. Yang". PGA Tour. 2014. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014.
  9. ^ "Yang slightly nervous about playing on home soil". Golf.com. 20 April 2010. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014.
  10. ^ "Yang's life changed forever with win over Tiger". NBC Sports. Associated Press. 17 August 2009. Archived from the original on 18 August 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
  11. ^ Lerner, Rich (17 August 2009). "What's Next for Y.E. Yang?". The Golf Channel. Archived from the original on 22 February 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2009.
  12. ^ "PGA Championship, 'Wild' Woods". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). 17 August 2009. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
  13. ^ a b Nichols, Bill (8 April 2010). "Since historic win, Korean golfer finds balance with family in Southlake, at Dallas driving range". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011.
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