Golf: Friends praise 'Too Much Lucky'

To the world, he is known as the man who toppled Tiger Woods in one of golf's greatest upsets. But in New Zealand - where he spent his formative golfing years - he is known as "Too Much Lucky".

South Korean Y.E. (Yong-eun) Yang, ranked 110th in the world, has become the first Asian-born man to win a golfing major by coming from behind to beat the world's best and win the US PGA Championship.

Yang, now 37, travelled from South Korea to Auckland in the early to mid 90s, for months at a time, to play the more affordable courses and develop his game, after completing his mandatory service in the South Korean military.

Golf coach and mentor Rory Moor met Yang at the Pupuke Golf Club on the North Shore in the early 1990s. He remembers him having a "phenomenal" work ethic.

"I have never seen bigger calluses on any player. Because that's how hard he worked. And I think the thing is you can always tell players who are going to be good because they are mentally disciplined, and he has always been really mentally disciplined.

"He would be in the gym twice a day, in the morning early and late at night, and that was after hitting 1000 balls [at a driving range] and playing a round of golf.

"He was always going to be someone. But that's become a guy that can beat the best in the world now."

Professional golfer Richard Lee has played alongside Yang in Japan, and has a lighter memory of him in New Zealand.

"He was a nice guy. But he couldn't speak any English. We used to call him 'Too Much Lucky'. I was in Taupo after the New Zealand Open ... and he saw me and he said, 'Oh, too much lucky to see you.' He obviously meant, 'It's lucky to see you here.'

"He couldn't even read the menu back then, so I helped him read the menu in the restaurant. His English has probably improved now that he has been in America."

Mr Moor said: "We all called him Mr Yang, because no one could say Yong-eun. But the whole world will know it now.

"[He was] a very genial character. He struggled with his English but always had a smile on his face, and was always a real positive person to have around. And like with most really good players, great humility as well."

Yang fired a two-under par 70 at Hazeltine, Minnesota, the longest course in major golf history, and with a chip-in eagle at 14 and birdie at 18 forced 14-time major winner Woods to settle for second, the same place he had at Hazeltine at the 2002 PGA.

After his extraordinary success, Yang said: "Until I was 19, after I picked up my first golf club, I was like anybody else in the world, just an average Joe.

"As I started to pick up golf, I fell in love with it. I have the best job in the world doing what I love most."

Woods - who began golfing at age 2, 17 years earlier than Yang - paid tribute to his nemesis.

"He went out there and executed his game plan. He was driving the ball beautifully, hitting his irons in the correct spots. He didn't make a lot of putts but he was doing what you have to do."

But as the tributes poured in, Yang kept his feet on the ground.

"You never know in life," he said. "This may be my last win as a golfer.

"But it sure is a great day."