Y.E. Yang surges into the lead at Honda Classic

By Greg Stoda
Courtesy of the Palm Beach Post

So how tough can the Honda Classic weekend possibly be? Yang, a 37-year-old South Korean ranked 460th in the world, grabbed the Honda Classic lead at its halfway mark Friday with a bogey-free, five-under-par 65 for a seven-under-par 133 total and a one-shot lead ahead of Will MacKenzie, Robert Allenby and Jeff Overton.

There isn't a Woods in sight, because he's absent.

(Tiger did make news, however, by committing to next week's CA Championship at Doral hours before the deadline. We now return to regular programming.) One of Yang's two victories in 2006 was in the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai, China, at which Woods finished two shots off the pace.

"People in Korea knew me," Yang said through an interpreter after playing in the last group of the day and barely beating darkness to finish the round. "I was Rookie of the Year on the Korean Tour.

"Personally, to be able to say as a fact that I've beaten Tiger ... I'm very happy about that."

Yang's best finish on the PGA Tour last year was a tie for ninth place at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and he now has made four cuts in four tournaments this year.

As much as Yang enjoys the reputation for having beaten Woods, he said the opportunity to win a PGA Tour event is "a dream come true."

Yang said his second-round goal was to post a score of a couple of shots under par simply to remain in contention. He instead splashed five birdies onto his card, including three in succession at one stretch, and flew to the lead.

It was the putting.

Yang one-putted 11 times, and used only 25 putts for the round.

MacKenzie (67), Overton (67) and first-round leader Allenby (68) are in close pursuit, but each seemed to feel as though he got away with something.

"I sort of didn't hit it very well," said MacKenzie, a Jupiter resident, who nevertheless offset two bogeys with five birdies.

Overton said he simply relied on a "baby draw" of which he has had extraordinary control through two rounds.

Allenby, another Jupiter resident, said he "didn't play bad or anything like that, (but) just didn't hit it as close" as he did in the first round.

Ben Crane (65-135) was next and then came David Mathis (68-136) on a leader board absent big-name players.

Unless, that is, one counts the Tiger-tamer.

For tickets and additional information on the Honda Classic, visit www.hondaclassic.com.

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