[Sly Fox]

How has today's final round of the PGA not been brought up yet.

Some Korean dude named Y.E. that no one has ever heard of takes down Tiger in emphatic fashion.

All I have is wow.

[SumItUp]

ZERO majors for the year. However, 5 victories (with a few to play) and 3 Top 6 finishes in the majors is not too shabby. He's not on the backside of his career yet though.

[Sly Fox]

Every top golfer on the Tour is in disbelief right now. Tiger is human after all. Perhaps Y.E. didn't realize that he was supposed to wilt simply because Tiger was on the leaderboard.

[RubberMallet]

that shot over the tree over the bunkers on the 18th was ridiculous...

[Liberty4Life]

On ESPN, they sum it up quite nicely... Did Tiger lose, or did Yang win? The answer... ummm... yes. Both.

[Rocketfan]

that shot over the tree over the bunkers on the 18th was ridiculous...

I don't even think Tiger could believe that one....so much for playing it safe by Yang.

[Sly Fox]

That was a shot of a career to be sure. But if Tiger hadn't gagged the entire last round (and last 4 holes in particular) then Yang probably wouldn't have been in position to win.

Tiger has begun to rest on the mindset that if he is in the lead heading into Sunday that all his competitors will simply implode and he doesn't have to make shots to win. It backfired in a big way this weekend.

[prototype]

The guy got second at a major and we are acting like he is all dried up:) Who in golf is always in contention like he is? The guys amazing. My only knock was that he should have played a lot more aggressive... but hey, his current strategy has gotten him many victories in the past.

[Chris Lang]

C'mon Sly, you're better than this.

I'm arguing with someone else on another message board about this, the use of the word "choke." It's thrown around way, way too much in the sports lexicon. To me, a "choke" is when someone has the tournament or a game directly in his grasp and just completely blows it. Tom Watson "choked" at Turnberry. He had one 10-foot putt to win the championship and couldn't get it done. Tiger never had a moment Sunday where the tournament was his. A two-stroke lead can evaporate in one hole. The fact was, Tiger played poorly all day long, and Yang took advantage, sticking gutsy shot after gutsy shot. To call this a choke is minmalizing the word. I'm no Tiger apologist. But it's not like he blew a ton of 10-foot putts. He played poorly and never put himself in position to make a charge.

I watch more golf than most, so I'm well aware of Yang, who's actually having a fairly decent year and has surpassed K.J. Choi as the best Korean golfer on the planet. Yang had the perfect attitude yesterday. He never looked tight. Looked like he was having fun and wasn't going to let the gravity of the moment overtake him. When you start playing the golf course and stop worrying about Tiger, you set yourself up for success.

Had Tiger led by five entering yesterday and shot 78, then, yeah, I'd be more apt to agree with a choke assessment.

[RubberMallet]

uh...tiger has never lost going into the last day of a major with a lead. he shot a 73. he...uh....choked.

[Liberty4Life]

When Tiger was playing in the US Open in 2008, on the 18th Hole, he was down by one. During that hole, he had this composure that was so evident, I remarked, 'I've never seen someone losing who looks like he's in charge'. Sure enough, Tiger birdied the hole, did the double-fist pump, and won the next day.

Yesterday, he didn't have "it". He just looked like any other golfer on the field. Yang didn't look like anything special, either (except the chip and the approach shot on 18)... But Yang went into the day down two, played two-under golf... and beat Tiger by three. Three!

If Yang had done something completely spectacular, like shoot a 67, it would have been a no-brainer -- he kicked butt. But it didn't work out that way.

But if you said at the beginning of the round that Tiger, who had a two-shot lead, would lose by three strokes -- and that NO ONE in the field would shoot lower than a 70 in the final round... you'd think two things. Either Tiger choked, or Shooter McGavin called an old friend and now owes that guy a trip to Sizzler.

[Chris Lang]

The three-stroke thing is irrelevant. He needed to hole the chip on 18 to have a chance, so he went for it, rather than just hitting it close. That's why he slammed it so far past the hole. If he plays that shot like he normally does, it's only a two-stroke loss.

[Sly Fox]

A choke doesn't have to a be a single stroke occurrence. When someone buckles under pressure and plays well below their abilities they are the embodiment of a choke. Tiger choked. It may never happen again but it did Sunday.

[Chris Lang]

I respectfully disagree on the choke part. It's a harsh word that should only be used in certain circumstances. The talk radio part of our society (*cough* Skip Bayless *cough*) loves to throw it around haphazardly.

[BJWilliams]

Tiger didnt choke. That round turned really on Yang's chip in on 14 although I also noticed a real interesting stat on ESPN.com when they discussed this: Tiger played the first 23 holes at -4...Y.E. Yang played them at +5. The rest of the tournament, Tiger played them at -1...Y.E. Yang...-13.

[Liberty4Life]

Like I said at the beginning...

...Did Tiger lose, or did Yang win? The answer... ummm... yes. Both

[pcguy09]

tiger choked?! I know everyone knows all the stats about how it was impossible to come from behind and beat tiger in the final round of a major, or any tournament for the matter. but, golf is a sport, and what happens in sports? sometimes a person doesn't have it. Tiger played darn well on sunday he just missed 4-6 putts in the final round. He was 53/54 on putts inside 10 feet last week at the bridgestone, on sunday he missed 3 putts inside 10 feet.
What Y.E. Yang did on sunday was upset Tiger, just like if the #1team in the nation got upset by a non ranked team.. Tiger (#1 team) did not play up to his ability, and made some mistakes here and there that did not allow him to stretch his lead out, then Y.E. Yang (unranked team) finaly made those one or two spectacular play (shot) that allowed him to sneak by Tiger for the upset. Tiger's winning percentage is better than 10 MLB teams since 2006. And heaven forbid Tiger doesn't win a Major in a year. The only reason people say he choked is b/c we've become so acustomed to him being spectacular, that when he doesn't win, we say something is wrong. He just came off winning two tournaments in a row, and put himself in position to win 3 in a row. It may seem like i'm ranting or rambling. I'm really not, just watchin The Herd, and felt like typing. But its ridiculous to say Tiger choked. Choking is when it happens several times without it being fixed. Jack Nicholas is the biggest choke job