Y. E. Yang was the surprise winner of the USPGA championship, edging out Tiger Woods to become the first Asian player to ever win a major title.
Padraig Harrington’s challenge started well, and the 37-year-old looked solid as he rattled off seven pars in a row.
However, his challenge for the final major of the year ended on the par 3 eighth hole when he had a quintuple bogey.
After hitting his initial tee shot into the water, Harrington took a penalty stroke and hit his third into the rough at the back of the green.
An eerie replay of last week’s 16th hole at Firestone ensued, when Harrington hit a flop shot straight back into the water.
He fluffed his next chip (his sixth at the hole after a second penalty stroke) and finally got up and down for a tournament-ending eight.
Harrington went on to shoot a 78 to end the tournament on even par in a tie for tenth place
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy again proved his consistency in major tournaments this year by shooting a two under par 70 to end the tournament 3 under par in a tie for third place with Lee Westwood.
MCIlory started with a double bogey but rattled off four birdies on the front nine to make the turn on two under par. A bogey on 12 was redeemed by a birdie on 14 and four pars on the way home meant that McIlroy had his best finish in a major.
Graham McDowell carded a final round 72 to end the tournament level par, also in a tie for tenth place.
Three Irish men in the top 10 at a major is quite an achievement, though few would have predicted that McIlroy would finish ahead of Harrington at the start of play today.
Y. E. Yang was the surprise winner of the final major of the year, outscoring and outplaying Tiger Woods. In a huge upset, Yang carded a two under par 70 to beat Woods, who shot a three over par 75, by three strokes.
Yang was not overawed by the occasion and his victory over Woods in the head to head counts among one of the biggest underdog victories the sport has seen.
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