South Korea’s Y.E. Yang became the first Asian-born golfer to win a major men’s tournament in U.S. soil at the PGA golf championship last weekend. And what could be a more satisfying win than staring down Tiger Woods who has not lost a final round when he leads it.
The media coverage played up the drama unfolding before them last Sunday. It was a good coverage. Yang was labeled accordingly as an Asian-born player, which should inspire other Asian-born players to compete on the world stage.
If anyone still remembers, Woods is Asian, too; half-Asian that is. having a Thai mother.
It’s been a long time coming for Asian-born players. Among the string of close calls through the years are Liang-Huan Lu of Taiwan who finished one shot behind Lee Trevino at Royal Birkdale in the 1971 British Open; and Isao Aoki of Japan who pushed Jack Nicklaus at Baltusrol in the 1980 U.S. Open until he had to settle for second place.