Yang’s PGA Title to Earn Him Big Money

PGA Championship winner Y.E. (Yong-eun) Yang, who beat Tiger Woods to become the first Asian-born golfer to win a major title on the PGA Tour, is expected reap big financial rewards from his historic victory.

The Internet edition of Golf World magazine yesterday said his title will have him rolling in dough. His expected bonus from his sponsor TaylorMade for winning the tournament is an estimated 500,000 dollars.

Yang has also entered into negotiations for extending his endorsement deal with the company, which will expire at the end of the year. The deal could more than double to one million dollars a year, and if so, he can stop worrying about the mortgage on his 1.5-million dollar home in Dallas, Golf World said.

When the golfer visited TaylorMade headquarters in Carlsbad, California, last week, a two-story banner was draped over the company’s main building heralding his arrival. TaylorMade staff greeted him with a standing ovation.

Reuters said Yang will face Woods again at this year’s HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai in November. Yang drew attention after beating Woods at the 2006 event, and this year’s tournament has been upgraded to Asia’s first World Golf Championship event, where seven of the world’s top 10 players will compete.

Appearing on Fox News Monday, Woods talked about the bitterness of his defeat to Yang, saying he could not sleep that night because of his disappointment. With no major championships this year, golf’s top-ranked men’s player will take another shot Friday at the Barclays, the opening of the PGA playoffs.

kjs0123@donga.com