YANG'S WIN HAS WORLDWIDE IMPLICATIONS

Let's not carried away with this whole idea of Y.E. Yang pulling the biggest upset in sports history on Sunday. Some were calling it a Buster Douglas-like episode. I would tend to think that Yang showed a lot of the qualities Douglas did when he pulled that big upset of Mike Tyson in Tokyo back in 1990. He was absolutely cool under pressure and not intimidated in the least by the mammoth presence that was his playing partner. He also made just about every shot we could have possibly made, just like Douglas landed much of his jabs, straight rights and left hooks with pinpoint accuracy.

At the same time, Yang was not a 42-1 shot to beat Tiger Woods on this day, not in the least. A fighter has to land punches against the other fighter. In golf, all you have to do is hit it in the rough a few times to really screw yourself. Or miss a few putts, as Tiger did. Yes, Yang did kind of come out of nowhere, and was outside the top 100 in the World Golf Rankings, which is admittedly a little more out of nowhere than Buster.

Should that have been the case though? Yang has actually done pretty well on the PGA Tour this season. In 18 previous starts he had made 14 cuts, with three top tens and nine finishes in the top 25. This was reflected in the #21 ranking he had in FedEx Cup points (he is now seventh). Of course, he also won the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens earlier in the season, so he is a two-time winner this year.


As for Tiger, everybody is saying "now he's human," but we knew that from his woeful performance at Turnberry, when he failed to make the cut in the British Open. This is professional golf. Guys can make shots. There are 150 or more players teeing it off in a tournament like this, and a lot of them can win it if they have a good weekend. Sure, Tiger lost a lead after 54 holes for the first time in a major, and then he had to battle back from behind over the last couple of holes. Maybe the guy is just a front-runner. I don't know that he's come from behind on the final day to win that many on tour in his career.

Yang's performance from this point forward will be the determinant as to whether he becomes a real icon in the game or just the answer to a trivia question on "Jeopardy." As in, "Who was Paul Lawrie?" "Who was Rich Beem?" "Who was Jack Fleck"? I would say "Who was Ian Baker-Finch?" but the guy persists in being a TV commentator, so we can't lose him completely.

Whether he slips into some anonymity in the U.S. eventually or not, Yang is going to hit the mother lode from this win, at least for the time being. His big sponsor, Le Coq Sportif, had more than $2 million worth of exposure from the telecast. Yang showed some savvy by lifting his golf bag in front of cameras, giving TaylorMade a golden branding opportunity. And if you thought no one was watching back home, think again. South Koreans love golf, and have a number of prominent women on tour, most notably Se Ri Pak, who has won the LPGA Championship and the U.S. Women's Open. Currently there are four South Koreans among the top ten money winners on the ladies' tour.

But with all due respect to the female golfers, this high-tech economy and culture, all 48 million strong, has been starved for sports heroes with true worldwide importance. Beating Tiger Woods in come-from-behind fashion qualifies as such an heroic accomplishment, so you can definitely expect that viewing audience to increase by leaps and bounds. Lee Myung-bak, the president of South Korea, was awake at 4 AM to watch the tournament live, then phoned up Yang with his congratulations.
Peter Dawson, the CEO of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club in Scotland, who keeps a firm eye on world golf, points out that Yang's feat goes far beyond his native country. He told the Associated Press, "What Asian countries lacked is enough stars on the international stages. Let's hope it's the first of many, and not a one-off. It's not just Korea, but Japan, India, China, Thailand. They will remember Yang. He'll be a household name in Asia." It is estimated that South Korea has as many as 3.5 million golfers. Expect that to increase substantially, and add that to the 15 million in Japan, along with untold numbers that will develop in China, with as many as 10,000 Chinese coaches about to be trained. There is currently 40% growth in golf per year in China. It is about to become an Olympic sport. You think there won't be an increase in sponsor interest as well?
The fact is, all of Asia is seen as a booming with possibility for golf. The HSBC Champions in China is now part of the World Golf Championship. There is an increasing amount of interest among amateurs across the continent. Driving ranges are being built by the dozens. There are several young players competing as pros here in America, and more players are on the way to the PGA Tour, including Danny Lee, a South Korea native who last year became the youngest player to win the U.S. Amateur.
If Yang - and his agents - parlay this win correctly, it won't much matter if he never shows up on another major leader board. He will have cashed in nicely already.


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