Sparks Flying

The Shot Heard Around the World
The Shot Heard Around the World

It’s a terrific story: a 37-year-old, 110th-ranked Joe Nobody comes back in the final round of the PGA Tournament to defeat Tiger Woods. What makes Y.E. Yang’s story even greater, however, is his backstory.  As the BBC reports here:

[Yang] only took up the sport after a knee injury in his teens ended his dreams of becoming a bodybuilder and he took a job collecting golf balls at a local driving range. Encouraged to hit a few balls by his brother at the Ora Country Club practice facility on his home island of Jeju, Yang found he had a natural aptitude for the game.

Kim Young-chan, executive director of the driving range, said: “After the guests left the range, he practiced late into the night. It is testament to how hard he worked to learn the game.”

He initially taught himself by watching other people and then imitating their style.

Sound familiar?

Also: mark the date. Like fellow South Korean Se Ri Pak’s U.S. Open victory in 1998, this will likely be the spark that creates a hotbed.