Truth was stranger than fiction at PGA Championship

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Y.E. Yang capped off a wild season in the major championships with his stunning win over Tiger Woods.

Y.E. Yang matched the low round of the PGA Championship on Saturday and then tied for low round of the day on Sunday. That is how you win a major championship ... and derail a train, upset the applecart and rewrite history.

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But history wasn't the only thing rewritten late Sunday night at Hazeltine. Stories and columns planning to focus on Tiger's latest conquest, like the one planned for this column, had to be rewritten.

The best part is that the Y.E. Yang vs. Tiger story is more interesting than Tiger winning his 15th major. The story of a guy who was groomed from birth and the most talented player in history getting taken down by a man who never held a golf club until he was 19 years old is better than trying to come up with more adjectives and more superlatives for Tiger.

As a life-long procrastinator, it is unlike me to step in front of the calendar for any reason, but I did just that over the weekend. So certain was I of the outcome of the PGA Championship that on Saturday night I wrote a piece, or another piece I should say, on the brilliance of Tiger Woods. I even used the old Mark Twain pearl, "Truth is stranger than fiction" because no novelist or Hollywood big shot would have ever dreamed of a career like his.

But the truth in this case did turn out to be stranger than fiction. After reading the rest of the quote in its entirety Monday, it occurs to me that I should have seen this coming. At the very least, I feel like an idiot for discounting Yang's chances. Of all people, I should know better. After all, I spent a childhood and most of my adult life dreaming of being the guy that brought down the man.

Twain's entire quote is, "Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction is obliged to stick to the possibilities, truth is not." What happened on Sunday was so impossible that it cost one particular United Kingdom bookmaker a reported 1.2 million Euros because he supposedly started paying off winning tickets on Tiger after Friday's round. I am pretty sure that is a true story because I read it on the Internet, and as you know, everything on the Internet is gospel.

The Yang victory did cost me more than the time I had invested in the piece. It cost me a trip to the merchandise tent on Sunday between 11 a.m.-noon. Actually Yang had nothing to do with the trip, but he had everything to do with making that tortuous journey completely fruitless.

I went to find something that I could beg Tiger to sign for the Golfers Against Cancer auction in a few months at home. I purchased a great-looking print of the clubhouse that I thought would be ideal. I have a friend at home whom I probably could have talked into framing it for a good cause and it would have undoubtedly brought a pretty penny for cancer research in central North Carolina.

I will undoubtedly find something more appropriate for Tiger to scribble on at a later date. Can you imagine what he would do to me if I asked him to sign that poster now? He would probably beat me senseless with a Hazeltine branch. Actually I am not exactly sure what Hazeltine is -- is it a tree, plant or shrub? I do know that whatever it is it brings out the worst in Tiger; maybe he is allergic. He has finished second here twice, by the narrowest of margins and to the most unlikely protagonists. Second in the majors this year turned out to be an interesting dance card.

There is a really good chance that in the unlikeliest of scenarios, all four of the reigning major champs will play in the Grand Slam of Golf. Who could blame them? A week in Bermuda on the PGA of America at a great golf course for free money. I covered it last year, if you can call it that, and started begging to go back the minute I returned. A few new faces every year may just be what we see down there every year for a while (except next year when Tiger wins at least two ... check the venues).

For more than a decade we have been looking for someone who was going to challenge Tiger. Interestingly enough we have been looking in all the wrong places. An Argentinian and a Korean, each older than Tiger, bookended the majors this year. An American who has been beating on the door for years finally broke into the R&A and grabbed the Claret Jug. At least there was one kid with a total of one victory on his resume before the U.S. Open there to make us look like we knew what we were talking about.

So what have we learned this year? First, the best player doesn't always win. Jack knew that and so did Arnie. Everyone before them knew it too. This year, on the four weeks that matter most to Tiger, someone else was better than him.

Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. If you have to ask why, the answer probably doesn't come in the Yin, it comes in the Yang -- at least as far as golf is concerned this summer. It is up to Tiger to restore balance next year. Either way his legacy is truth, but his 19th and even his 15th major for now remains fiction.

Former PGA TOUR player John Maginnes is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.