Tiger Woods failed to extend his streak of consecutive years with at least one major victory after losing to a virtually unknown underdog today at the PGA Championship. Korean Yong-Eun Yang became the first Asian man to ever win a major and did so in dramatic fashion. I’ll let Yahoo! Sports’ Martin Rogers get to the details:

The gallery started to believe on 14, when Yang chipped in with a miraculous eagle to wrest the outright lead. But the inner confidence had lain within well before that, ever since the final-round pairings fated these two men toward a Sunday tandem.

“I had thought recently about playing with Tiger and I was surprised it came about so soon,” Yang said through an interpreter. “But I wanted this, I wanted this challenge. At times it could be intimidating because of what Tiger is capable of but I wanted to live it.” Read the rest of this entry »

To the surprise of very few, Tiger Woods is favored to win this year’s PGA Championship, which starts today and runs through the weekend. The PGA Championship is the fourth and final major of the year.

Woods is currently a 3/2 favorite to win and although he’s coming off a victory at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Tiger has yet to win a major in 2009. In fact, the best he’s done so far was a sixth place finish at the Masters and a sixth place finish at the U.S. Open. (He missed the cut entirely at the British Open.)

Tiger missed last year’s PGA Championship, but did win the event in 2006 and 2007. He also has some momentum heading into Hazeltine National, winning the two last consecutive tournaments (Bridgestone and the Buick Open) that he has played in, which give him a total of five wins on the year.

Tiger’s main competition this weekend, at least based on the odds, appears to be Padraig Harrington (20/1), Phil Mickelson (22/1), Lee Westwood (28/1) and Hunter Mahan (30/1).

Here’s a TV schedule for this year’s PGA Championship:

Thursday, August 13: 2PM – 8PM on TNT
Friday, August 14: 2PM – 8PM on TNT
Saturday, August 15: 11AM – 2PM on TNT
Sunday, August 16: 11AM – 2PM ET on TNT
Sunday, August 16: 2PM – 7PM on CBS

To check the 2009 PGA Championship leaderboard, click here.

Related Content:

- Tiger Woods fined by PGA
- No fine for Tiger Woods

As it turns out, the report that surfaced yesterday about Tiger Woods being fined by the PGA Tour was erroneous. Tiger, although still peeved about what went down over the weekend at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, said that the PGA Tour has not fined him.

From the Washington Post:

“I’ve heard from the tour, and there’s no fine,” Woods said. “That was an erroneous report.”

Ty Votaw, a spokesman for the PGA Tour, said the original report of a fine was “inaccurate.” Votaw said Commissioner Tim Finchem had read and considered Woods’s remarks.

“There has been no process started with respect to any disciplinary action,” Votaw said by phone.

“The commissioner has reviewed the reports, and based on the reports that he read, Tiger’s comments related to the impact of the decision. He did not read them as an unreasonable attack or as being disparaging.”

We linked to a report by the Examiner yesterday about Woods being fined, although we’re not sure where the original report came from.

The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if the PGA received backlash for the supposed fine and decided to renege. But if Tiger is even saying that it was an erroneous report, then maybe there really was no fine to begin with.

Either way, it’s still a lame rule. You can’t have golfers worried about a game clock when they’re dealing with a tough shot in the rough. It takes away from the excitement of the tournament and it puts unnecessary pressure on the golfers.

Related Content:

- Tiger Woods fined by PGA

Tiger Woods has been fined by the PGA after criticizing officials Sunday following the 2009 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Tiger was critical of a rule that penalized competitor Padraig Harrington for taking too much time to hit from the rough and then off the green.

From the Examiner:

The wording of the rule is:

“It is an obligation of membership to refrain from comments to the news media that unreasonably attack or disparage tournaments, sponsors, fellow members, players or PGA Tour.”

Tiger’s words were reported as:

“Like I was telling him out there, ‘I’m sorry that John (the course official) got in the way of a great battle,’ because it was such a great battle for 16 holes,” Woods said. “We’re going at it, head-to-head, and unfortunately that happened. Paddy and I will definitely do it again.”

“I don’t think that Paddy would have hit the pitch shot that way if he was able to take his time, look at it, analyze it,” Woods said. “But he was on the clock, had to get up there quickly and hit it.”

What Tiger said could hardly be viewed as an unreasonable attack on the PGA Tour. He might have taken a pot shot at the course official, but that doesn’t seem worth a fine.

It’s amazing that the PGA Tour would fine Tiger for those comments, yet not after he lays down a barrage of curse words on national television following a bad shot. Seems kind of ridiculous if you ask me.

But what’s even more ridiculous is not allowing golfers to analyze their shots because the TV networks want to fit everything within a certain broadcast window. After all, this is golf – not football. Golfers should be allowed to approach their shots without being rushed in fear of breaking some pointless rule.

Update: The PGA is reporting that Tiger Woods has not been fined and that the originial report was erroneous.

In one of his recent articles for ESPN.com, Rick Reilly took aim at Tiger Woods and his constant temper tantrums on the course.

The man is 33 years old, married, the father of two. He is paid nearly $100 million a year to be the representative for some monstrously huge companies, from Nike to Accenture. He is the world’s most famous and beloved athlete.

And yet he spent most of his two days at Turnberry last week doing the Turn and Bury. He’d hit a bad shot, turn and bury his club into the ground in a fit. It was two days of Tiger Tantrums — slamming his club, throwing his club and cursing his club. In front of a worldwide audience.

If there were no six-second delay, Tiger Woods would be the reason to invent it. Every network has been burned by having the on-course microphone open when he blocks one right into the cabbage and starts with the F-bombs. Once, at Doral, he unleashed a string of swear words at a photographer that would’ve made Artie Lange blush, and then snarled, “‘The next time a photographer shoots a [expletive] picture, I’m going to break his [expletive] neck!”

It’s disrespectful to the game, disrespectful to those he plays with and disrespectful to the great players who built the game before him. Ever remember Jack Nicklaus doing it? Arnold Palmer? When Tom Watson was getting guillotined in that playoff to Stewart Cink, did you see him so much as spit? Only one great player ever threw clubs as a pro — Bobby Jones — and he stopped in his 20s when he realized how spoiled he looked.

This isn’t new. Woods has been this way for years: swearing like a Hooters’ bouncer, trying to bury the bottom of his driver into the tee box, flipping his club end over end the second he realizes his shot is way offline.

I know what you’re saying. We see more Tiger tantrums because TV shows every single shot he hits. And I’m telling you: You’re wrong. He is one of the few on Tour who do it. And I keep wondering when PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is going to have the cojones to publicly upbraid him for it.

I liked this piece by Reilly. Of course, I liked it better when Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post wrote about in early April after Tiger pissed and moaned through the Masters.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Reilly plagiarized (he definitely didn’t) or ripped off Kiszla because after all, the same sports topics are brought up ad nauseam on a daily basis and therefore there is bound to be some crossover. But read Kiszla’s piece, then Reilly’s, and then tell me there aren’t some obvious similarities.

Again, this isn’t to say that Reilly can’t touch on a subject that has already been talked about before (after all, we bloggers do it all the time). But we’ve seen this kind of lazy writing before from Reilly, most notably when he (essentially) reused a story he wrote for SI in 2003 as a “new” article for ESPN.com in May of this year. It drives me nuts how some believe that this guy is one of the most creative and innovative writers in the business and his work is often lacking.

Getting back to Tiger, would it be nice if he were a statue after hitting a bad shot? Yeah – it would be great if we didn’t have to watch him channel his inner Happy Gilmore every time he nailed one into the rough. But even though he’s a bit of a sore loser, Woods is an immense competitor and if guys like Reilly and Kiszla weren’t writing about his temper tantrums, they’d probably be criticizing him for not showing more fire and emotion when he plays.

At this point, I think Tiger is so good that some writers are going to try to find ways to criticize him any way they can. After all, how many times can you write about how amazing he is? Again, it would be nice if he showed a little more class on the course, but to say he’s disrespecting the game is a bit much. The guy is a model citizen (as Reilly points out) off the course so I’m going to give him a mulligan (corny pun phase initiated) for his club-throwing temper tantrums.

- DEADSPIN says that hunting for the guy who shot and uploaded the now-infamous Erin Andrews peephole video is a futile effort, while describing the method the perpetrator used to shoot the footage. The site also laments ESPN’s (inevitable?) takeover of local media all across the country.

- According to Luke Walton, via an AVP announcer and SPORTSbyBROOKS, Lamar Odom will be a Laker. “Trust me.”

- NCAA Football 10 users should take note. Fully named rosters are now available, per TONYBLOGS.

- WITH LEATHER reports that MLB was not happy with President Obama’s decision to wear a Chicago White Sox jacket when he threw out the first pitch at the All-Star Game.

- Charles Barkley says that Tiger Woods’ career is more impressive than Michael Jordan’s, per AWFUL ANNOUNCING.

He doesn’t miss the cut often, so when he does, it’s news.

For the first time in three years and the second in a major championship as a pro, Tiger Woods will not compete on the weekend.

The world’s No. 1 player missed the cut Friday at the British Open, shooting a 4-over 74 at Turnberry that had him headed back home to Florida on the same day that 59-year-old Tom Watson tied for the 36-hole lead.

Woods holds the tour record of 142 consecutive cuts made, which he set from 1998 to 2005.

Tiger Woods is having a hell of a time at Turnberry the past couple days.

Woods, who shot a 71 in the opening round of the 2009 British Open on Thursday, is in danger of missing the cut after shooting a 74 in Round 2 on Friday. He is now five-over-par and is toeing the potential cut line to get into Round 3.

Tiger has missed only one cut in a major during his professional career, which came in the 2006 U.S. Open following the death of his father. Considering he opened play as a 9/4 favorite to win, Woods missing the opening cut would be a shocking development.

Outside of Tiger potentially missing the cut, the big story is that 59-year-old Tom Watson once again sits atop the leader board. Watson was one-stroke off of Miguel Jimenez entering play on Friday, but shot a 70 in Round 2 and is now tied with Steve Marino for first place with a score of 135.

The second round is still going on, but Mark Calcavecchia is currently one stroke behind Watson and Marino at 136, while Jimenez, Vijay Singh, Ross Fisher, Retief Goosen and Kenichi Kuboya are all tied at 137.

Update: Woods officially missed the cut at the British Open. It was only the second time he missed the cut at a major in his professional career.

If you were hoping Tiger Woods would bust out of the gates at the British Open, take an early lead and dominant the competition throughout the weekend your wish has not been granted.

Woods shot a 71 in the opening round of the British Open, which began this morning at 8:00 a.m. ET at Turnberry golf course in Scotland. That score is good for one over par and currently ranks him tied for 56th place, although more than half of the golfers have yet to take the course.

Tom Watson, a 59-year-old five-time Open champion, currently holds the lead after shooting a 65. That score gives him a five-under-par and also gives him a one stroke advantage over John Senden, Steve Stricker, Camilo Villegas, Stewart Cink and Mathew Goggin.

Tiger was a 9/4 favorite when play began today. Watson didn’t have odds, so he was part of The Field, which was 5/2 to win. Stricker and Villegas were 40/1, while Cink was 60/1.

Here’s the TV schedule for the rest of the British Open:

Thursday, July 16: 6:30AM – 7:00PM ET on TNT

Friday, July 17: 7:00AM – 7:00PM ET on TNT

Saturday July 18: 7:00AM – 9:00AM ET on TNT

Saturday July 18: TBA on ESPN

Sunday July 19: 6:00AM – 8:00AM ET on TNT

Sunday July 19: TBA on ESPN

SI.com compiled a ranking of the 50 highest-earning American athletes and discovered that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are at the top of the list.

1. Tiger Woods
Pro Golf
Last Year’s Rank: 1
Salary/Winnings: $7,737,626
Endorsements: $92,000,000
Total: $99,737,626

Tiger sacrificed millions in appearance fees during his year off to recover from knee surgery, but replaced his lucrative Buick deal — voided by mutual consent — with a new one from AT&T.

2. Phil Mickelson
Pro Golf
Last Year’s Rank: 2
Salary/Winnings: $6,350,356
Endorsements: $46,600,000
Total: $52,950,356

Like Tiger, Phil no longer counts on a car-maker in his endorsement portfolio. (Ford chose not to re-sign him.) He still has lucrative deals with Rolex, Callaway, Exxon, Barclay’s and KPMG.

3. LeBron James
Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
Last Year’s Rank: 3
Salary/Winnings: $14,410,581
Endorsements: $28,000,000
Total: $42,410,581

LeBron has one more season left under his deal before he can opt out. If Cleveland doesn’t show it’s Finals-worthy by next spring, expect the Knicks to come in with a huge offer.

4. Alex Rodriguez
New York Yankees (MLB)
Last Year’s Rank: 6 (tie)
Salary/Winnings: $33,000,000
Endorsements: $6,000,000
Total: $39,000,000

We’re in the middle of A-Rod’s peak earning power in his middle-loaded, 10-year megadeal: He’ll make another $33 million in 2010 and then gradually decrease to a “normal” $20 million by ‘17.

No. 5 Shaquille O’Neal
Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA)
Last Year’s Rank: 6 (tie)
Salary/Winnings: $20,000,000
Endorsements: $15,000,000
Total: $35,000,000

The Big Bargaining Chip? Regardless of his trade to Cleveland, Shaq is in the final year of the five-year, $100 million deal he signed while with Miami. It’s the largest expiring deal in the NBA.

No. 10 Peyton Manning
Indianapolis Colts (NFL)
Last Year’s Rank: 9
Salary/Winnings: $14,500,000
Endorsements: $13,000,000
Total: $27,000,000

NFL’s top endorser has distributed $500,000 in grants in ‘09 through his PayBack Foundation to charities in Indianapolis, near his alma mater (Tennessee) and his hometown, New Orleans.

It’s amazing that the highest paid NFL player (Peyton Manning) barely cracked the top 10. Granted, the NFL only has a 17-game regular season, but you’d think that for what football players put their bodies through every season that they would make more than baseball players, golfers and basketball players.

Although he is pitching well this season despite his overall numbers, seeing Zito’s name on this list at No. 26 makes me shudder. He’s the third best pitcher (maybe fourth depending on how high you value Randy Johnson) on his own club, yet he’s the 26th highest-earning American athlete. Still, it should be noted that Zito donates $400 for every strikeout that he throws to the Strikeouts for Troops charity that he created to help hospitals treat soldiers that are wounded in military operations. In fact, as the article notes, a lot of the guys on this list give thousands of dollars to charities every year and that shouldn’t be overlooked.