Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images

The only golfer to beat Tiger Woods after leading a Major Sunday

Originally posted on HITC | By Charlie Walker | Last updated Jan 1, 2026 7:00 AM ET

Very few can say they’ve gone up against Tiger Woods and come out on top.

During his prime, Tiger was about as close to unbeatable as the sport has seen. If he was in the mix on Sunday, you’d back him to win more often than not. And if he started the final round in front, it felt like it was already over.

He went 44-2 with the outright lead, a big reason why he ended up tying Sam Snead’s record with 82 PGA Tour wins.

But there was one occasion where he didn’t close it out — and that led to one player picking up his only major title, along with the nickname “Tiger Killer”.

Y.E. Yang’s upset at the 2009 PGA Championship

Photo credit should read BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images

Yang Yong-eun, better known as Y.E. Yang, made history at the 2009 PGA Championship by going head-to-head with Woods in the final group and winning. In doing so, he became the only player to beat Woods at a major after he held the lead going into Sunday.

Yang also went on to become the first Asian-born player to win a major championship title.

The tournament was held at Hazeltine National, where Tiger led by two shots over Harrington and Yang. At that point though, his lead had already been reduced from four strokes just a day prior.

Once again though, Woods couldn’t get anything going with his putter, which left an opportunity for others to catch him up. Harrington took himself out of contention with a quintuple-bogey on the par-three eighth hole, leaving it up to Yang to challenge Woods.

The two were tied on 14 when Yang chipped in for eagle and moved into first place – a position he’d hold through until the end of play. Tiger bogeyed his last hole while his opponent closed with birdie-par-par for an eventual three-stroke victory.

He’d only recently regained his Tour card before adding another win earlier that same season in May.

Tiger has never lost another major after leading through three rounds since then either, making this one of golf’s most remarkable final-day upsets that still stands out today.

Yang Yong-eun’s 2021 PGA Championship: From hero to disqualification

Twelve years after his historic win at the PGA Championship, Yang Yong-eun faced a very different outcome at the same event, this time being disqualified from the 2021 tournament.

At 49, Yang was DQ’d for signing an incorrect scorecard after his second round at Kiawah Island Golf Resort. According to the PGA of America, he marked a four on the par-four 10th hole when he had actually made a bogey five.

After handing in his scorecard and leaving the scoring area, officials noticed the error. It didn’t affect the competition since Yang was already well outside the cut line with rounds of 75 and 84.

Still, it wasn’t how he would have wanted things to end at an event that had once put him on top of the golfing world.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: