The Rookies

Tiger is in the train here.

Sorry to dwell on golf, but I couldn’t let this momentous day go unremarked on.

Before Sunday, playing in the final group of a major with Tiger Woods was like a silent movie gone wrong. You know the archetype: The villain ties the kidnapped hero down to the train tracks, a small speed bump for the locomotive. Except Eldrick was the villain driving that locomotive, and he had never failed to reach the hero before he freed himself. Of course, he had left it very late before (see: Bob May in 2000, Chris DiMarco at the 2005 Masters, and Rocco Mediate at last year’s US Open), but he had never let the hero get off the track.

Yesterday, Y. E. Yang stopped the train.

So what factors played into this amazing circumstance? First, it must be said that Tiger didn’t tress his opponent as securely as he normally does. He putted horrendously, missing makeable putts on no fewer than seven holes. He also failed to capitalize on the par 5s, making just one birdie on 11. Finally, while Tiger claimed in the post-round press conference that he hit the ball well enough to lift the Wannemaker Trophy today, he seemed to play conservatively, coming up short on several wedge and short iron shots down the stretch (see 9, 15).

But the unique aspect of today was Yang. Always known as a good ball-striker, Y. E. was having his best year in America in 2009, having won the Honda Classic in March. Despite this, his was not the pedigree of a player who could stare down Tiger Woods on Sunday at a major. How did he do it? As he said afterwards, he works hard on his mental game, and it showed. Yang was constantly smiling Sunday, through good and bad. Even after coming up woefully short on his first putt on 16, Yang smiled as if to say, “Okay, let’s do better on the next one.”

Crappy Green Man costume, dude.

Yang also had something to fall back on that very few other golfers have: He had beaten Tiger before. Yang won the 2006 HSBC Champions tournament in China, overtaking Woods on Sunday for a two-shot victory. This knowledge, along with his steadfast confidence in his repeatable swing, held him in good stead as he watched Woods spin his wheels.

Finally, Yang’s language barrier might have in fact aided him. He could block out the distractions of the crowd much easier than a more well-known English speaking player could. Tiger seemed to grow frustrated with his laconic playing partner, seemingly trying some gamesmanship on the back nine. He turned his back repeatedly while Yang was playing, and stood close to Yang on a number of putts. Yang was far from rattled, however, and struck back, pointedly throwing his ball into the crowd (something Tiger refuses to do) after holing out on 15.

In short, on this day at Hazeltine, with Tiger having an off day putting, Y. E. Yang was the perfect foil, hitting clutch shots and having the mental toughness to withstand the locomotive that is Tiger Woods. Ironically, his brilliant hybrid that clinched the Championship on 18 came over the very same tree that Tiger cleared in what Tiger has called his “best shot ever.”

Congratulations to Y.E. Yang, a worthy, if unlikely, champion.