With CHRIS KELBY

South Korea's Yang Yong-Eun became the first Asian-born male winner of a major championship when he beat Tiger Woods to clinch the USPGA title at Hazeltine.

The 37-year-old was two shots adrift of overnight leader Woods but held his nerve to card 70 to the American's 75 to win by three on the final green.

It is a fantastic achievement for Yang; Asian golf is thriving and this victory will only increase its popularity further. For many it is a surprise, and no disrespect to the champion but I, like many others, expected the first Asian major winner to be the far better known KJ Choi.

This victory has been coming for years and I'm sure that we will now see far more champions from the far east, all boosted by Yang's breakthrough at the USPGA Championship

Yang's victory ended Woods' run of winning all 14 of his major titles when leading going into the final round. England's Lee Westwood's major frustration continued and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy enjoyed another high finish on golf's biggest stage as they tied for third.

Defending champion Padraig Harrington, level with Yang at the start, blew his chances with a quintuple-bogey eight on the par-three 8th. Harrington has been enjoying a welcome return to the leader boards in the past couple of weeks now that his much publicised swing changes are starting to bed in, but it is the second time in a week that the Irishman failed to convert a good position after three rounds into a win. The signs are good however and an on-form Harrington is a match for anyone.

Woods was chasing a 15th major title and a record-equaling fifth USPGA title but, unlike in previous majors, he failed to hole putts when they really mattered and was unable to pull clear.

Yang, who was ranked 110th in the world before the event, claimed his single PGA Tour victory at the Honda Classic at Riviera earlier this year, but was best known for holding off Woods at the HSBC Champions event in China three years ago.

This is the first year Woods has not won at least one major since 2004 and the second time he has finished as runner-up to a surprise winner at Hazeltine. Despite ending with four birdies he lost out to Rich Beem when the USPGA was last held there in 2002.

Yang joins Angel Cabrera (Masters), Lucas Glover (US Open) and Stewart Cink (Open Championship) as the 2009 major winners, a list that really must surprise everyone. The usual suspects of Woods and Mickelson are the most notable absentees, but another year has gone by and the likes of Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Luke Donald and Paul Casey, all dubbed as major contenders also find their trophy cabinets still missing one of golf's biggest crowns.

But, for now, the moment belongs to Yang Yong-Eun who went head to head with the best player in the world and, unlike so many great champions who have tried it before, he won! Well played sir.