Tiger Chokes Away a 15th Major at the 2009 PGA Championship

It won't take long until nicknames for the 2009 PGA Championship are cemented in stone.

The Hazeltine Miracle? The Hazeltine Meltdown? The Biggest Freaking Upset in Golf History?

Y.E. Yang's historic upset victory over Tiger Woods was all of those things ... and more. It undoubtedly broadens golf's interest around the globe. Following the first Major Championship won by an Asian-born golfer, we can expect it won't take long for Oriental interest in the sport to boom. And that's the angle CBS' broadcasters focused on during the final holes of the year's last Major.

It was the wrong angle to take.

For all the things the 91^st PGA Championship was, it will be remembered for the one thing it wasn't. For the first time in 15 tries, Tiger Woods failed to win a Major when he held an outright lead entering the final round. Instead, Woods' 75 in the final round stuck out like a yellow zit on a super model's face. No one else in the top nine had a higher score in the final round. It was the kind of Sunday outing that just doesn't happen. Never.

Need any more indication of how troubled Tiger's golf game is right now?

A comeback victory against Tiger on a Sunday at a Major Championship used to be as daunting a task as any in all of sports. It was like a Major League Baseball player hitting safe in 57 straight games. If anyone could meet the challenge, you'd expect it to be a proven golfer. Maybe Phil Mickleson or Padraig Harrington. A 37 year old who had to qualify for the Tour last year and only had one PGA victory in his professional career just doesn't fit the profile.

Oh, how the mighty has fallen.

It's not like Yang played a spectacular round of golf. (Even though, considering the stage and weather, he certainly didn't play poorly.) He was even on the round with 11 pars before chipping in a brilliant if not lucky eagle from about 20 yards on 14. He bogeyed 17, but only after Woods posted a 4 on the 182-yard par 3.

This has nothing to do with Woods' knee injury. (After a missed 10-foot putt on the 2^nd hole, Tiger dropped immediately to a catcher's crouch a rare display of frustration. It was the kind of move that takes healthy knees to execute.) Woods' explosive collapse Sunday had more to do with the 33 putts he needed to complete the final round. It had to do with repeatedly slamming his club against the turf instead of striking the ball solidly on approach and chip shots. It was his inability to keep his anger and frustration in check while Yang calmly navigated the par-72 course. This was a choke job. A mental disintegration from perhaps the strongest mind to ever play the game.

It wasn't the first time Woods finished second at a PGA Championship hosted at Hazeltine Golf Course. He concluded the 2002 Major season with a runner-up finish to Rich Beam. But 2009 was a different animal. Seven years ago, Woods sprinted to the finish line with birdies on the last four holes. Beam thanked the Scottish originators of golf afterwards for making a regulation course 18 holes instead of 19. This year, Tiger limped to the finish with three bogeys on the back nine, including two on 17 and 18.

All things point to the same conclusion: this is not he same Tiger Woods we've seen for most of this decade. I wrote after the British Open about the Major Championship slump almost every great golfer experiences after the age of 33. Only three golfers have won five Majors after that mile marker. With the way Tiger played in the first three rounds, it seemed silly to think he wouldn't join that list. Anybody laughing now?

My good friend and mentor Jason Whitlock, a sports columnist for the Kansas City Star and Fox Sports, has written several times he expects Tiger to reel off another 10 Majors. It's a gross exaggeration. History is clearly working against him. And for the first time in his life, his game is fighting against him too.

You don't need a nickname for that.