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Yang rellishing Asian homecoming
Hong Kong, 3 November 2009 - Imagine you are a professional golfer chasing your first Major championship title and you are on the fairway of the 72nd hole, leading by one shot. The world’s most dominant player is breathing down your neck, the burden of history is weighing heavily on your mind and thousands of fans, plus tens of millions watching on TV, are waiting to see what you do next.
What Yang Yong Eun did next was hit the shot of a lifetime. “I don’t think it was the best pressure shot I ever hit,” he smiles. “It was my best shot, period.” With one swing of his club, the unheralded Korean tamed the Tiger, wrote his name in the record books and changed Asian golf forever. Almost three months later, he still shakes his head in wonder at the memory.
For anyone who has been living on Mars and might have missed the story, it is worth recapping. World No.1 Tiger Woods headed into the last day of the year’s final Major, the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, with a two-shot lead over Yang and defending champion Padraig Harrington.
Woods had an astonishing 14-0 success record when leading a Major after 54 holes and was widely expected to blow away his rivals. Yang, 37, playing just his second year on the PGA Tour, admits he felt the same way. “I thought I had no chance of winning against Tiger, so I just tried to enjoy the moment. I mean, really, just playing a round of golf with the greatest golfer in the world is simply a great trip. Who knew the outcome would be so different?”
But while the challenge of Harrington – himself a three-time Major winner – faded away, Yang went toe-to-toe with Tiger, first overturning his two-shot lead and then eagling the par-four 14th hole to move in front for the first time.
Then, on the final hole, came his stroke of genius. From 210 yards away, with his path to the green obstructed by trees, Yang pulled a hybrid club from his bag and delivered a glorious approach shot that settled six feet from the hole. His successful birdie putt sealed an incredible triumph – the first ever Major win by an Asian – and left Woods, who bogeyed the hole, the runner-up by three shots.
Yang was suddenly world news – he received a congratulatory phone call from South Korean President Lee Myung Bak – but it took a while to sink in. “At first, I didn’t really think about the ramifications, I just cherished the win as a win,” he says. “Now, about three months on, I’ve come to realise it is a big deal. I guess I’m really enjoying the fact that I did such a thing. They say it’s a feat, an achievement. I consider it a privilege to be a Major winner, and the first Asian.”
But while he was the underdog on that momentous day, Yang was hardly a novice. Indeed, he had tamed Tiger before. He leapt into the global spotlight in 2006 when he held off an elite field, including the chasing pack of Major winners Michael Campbell, Retief Goosen and Woods, to win the HSBC Champions in Shanghai. And last March he claimed his first PGA Tour win with a one-stroke victory in the Honda Classic.
With his track record, Yang will be one of the leading contenders in next week’s UBS Hong Kong Open – to be held at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling – together with world No.4 Paul Casey, world No.5 Lee Westwood, former British Open champions Mark O’Meara and Ben Curtis and a host of other world class players.
Yang’s widespread fame is far removed from his upbringing on the picturesque Korean island of Jeju. “I really was just a normal student, an everyday teen without any grand career aspirations,” he reveals. “I was planning on doing some bodybuilding and opening a gym. Then I injured my ACL [the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee] and had to forfeit that dream. But a friend introduced me to a driving range where I could pick up balls and sleep and eat there, so I thought it was a good deal.
“One of the perks was I could hit balls for free – I had no idea what the big deal was, but it was fun to do. I later started to practice a bit more seriously and started watching some worn out video tapes since I didn’t have any money to afford a swing coach. So my ‘coaches’ were Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus.”
At that stage, Yang never thought of becoming a professional golfer. “My ambition was to make both ends meet. To sleep under a roof, have food on the table, some spending money for clothes and to hang out with the boys. Then I found out you could make a living out of teaching golf if you had an instructor’s license.”
But he was too good to simply be a teaching pro. He started out on the Korean PGA Tour, where he was voted Rookie of the Year in 1997, and then tried his luck in Japan, winning four titles from 2004-06 prior to his victory in Shanghai.
Having made history this year, Yang believes other Asians are ready to follow suit. “I think KJ [his compatriot, seven-time PGA Tour winner KJ Choi] is getting back to his form, so he would be the front runner. Charlie Wi, my good friend, I also have to give him my best wishes, and then you have Jeev Milkha Singh, Thongchai Jaidee, Prayad Marksaeng, Ryo Ishikawa, Ryuji Imada, Shingo Katayama and so many more. Who would have known I’d win the PGA Championship? Nothing is impossible. Maybe the next Masters will see an Asian win it.”
While a PGA Tour regular, Yang is staying true to his roots and says he will continue to play in Asia as often as possible. How does it feel competing in front of the fans who helped him on his way? “Absolutely thrilling and a complete privilege,” he says, with considerable emotion. “To represent not just Korea, but now Asia as its sole Major champion, and to have Asian fans backing me all the way, is like having not only a physical presence behind me, but a spiritual force supporting me. It’s almost indescribable.”
Yang can expect a hero’s welcome when he competes in the UBS Hong Kong Open and he hopes to put on a show to match. It will be only his second appearance in the event, having finished tied 61st in 2002. “It’s a nice but tough course, as my last finish might attest!” he laughs. “It would be good to come back and redeem myself. I never set out to win a tournament, that is plain greedy, I’ll just set my expectations to finishing in the top 10 and to have fun in front of a supportive Hong Kong crowd. And I’ll probably enjoy some fine Chinese cuisine as well.”
Hong Kong fans, it is safe to assume, will enjoy watching Yang, the modest champion who has put Asian golf on the world map.
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Released on behalf of the UBS Hong Kong Open by Two Up Front - Asia’s sports PR specialists.