PGA Championship 3rd round Y.E. Yang Pictures

y-e-yang-pga-championship-3rd-round-y-e-yang-pictures Y.E. Yang chipped in for eagle on the par-4 14th hole to open a one-shot lead over Tiger Woods during the final round of the PGA Championship, the last major tournament of the season.

The 37-year-old South Korean is 8-under par with three holes remaining at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. Woods, seeking his 15th major title, made a birdie at the 14th hole and is 7-under overall. He missed a birdie putt at the 15th hole that would have tied him for the lead.

Woods, 33, has never lost when holding or sharing the 54- hole lead in one of the sport’s four major tournaments.

U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover is five shots off the lead, tied at 3-under with Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson. Ernie Els and Soren Kjeldsen are 2-under.

Yang, who picked up his first U.S. PGA Tour victory earlier this season at the Honda Classic, is trying to become the first Asian-born golfer to win a men’s major.

Woods, with a victory, would join Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen as the only players to win five PGA Championship titles. He would also pull within three victories of tying Nicklaus for the most major titles of all time.

Woods came into the tournament with consecutive wins at the Buick Open and Bridgestone Invitational. A win today would mark the first time he has won in three straight starts since 1999.

Mickelson Woes

Phil Mickelson, second to Woods in the Official World Golf Ranking, shot 4-over today with an eagle, two birdies, three bogeys, a double-bogey and a triple-bogey. He finished the week at 12-over, his highest score in 17 PGA Championship appearances. Mickelson mostly blamed his putting for his woes.

“I haven’t putted the best for a little while now,” he said. “It’s going to take a little more than overnight. But I at least feel like I have little bit better direction.”

While Woods has five U.S. PGA Tour victories this season, he’s yet to win a major, having tied for sixth at the Masters Tournament and U.S. Open before failing to qualify for the final two rounds at the British Open.

If he doesn’t lift the Wanamaker Trophy today, it’ll be the first time since 2004 that he’s failed to win one of the year’s four major championships.

I had a pal come over yesterday to watch the end of the third round. After that we went out and hit a gigantic bucket of balls and then I was off for a leisurely Saturday evening. So I didn’t get the chance to chime in on the 3rd round of the PGA Championship.

Padraig Harrington is about the only player I give a chance to beating Tiger. The more I watch him the more I like him. I don’t think there’s a better player on this planet at hitting fairway woods. Unfortunately he didn’t post his score of -6 first, so YE Yang (also at -6) will be playing in the final group with Tiger.

YE Yang in the final group, last day of a major with Tiger Woods? Can you say nuclear meltdown? I don’t think he’ll be a factor.

Tiger Woods didn’t play all that well in the 3rd round. He certainly wasn’t firing on all cylinders and he wasn’t making a ton of putts. That being said, he somehow held the lead. And for the billionth time mentioned, Tiger doesn’t lose leads when he takes them into the final round of majors.

Will Padraig, Yang or someone else finally crack through and beat Tiger? The odds don’t say so, but they still have to play the game.

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PGA Championship 3rd round Y.E. Yang Pictures

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