Lots of thoughtful commentary as usual. I too like to see winners back up their victories and I don’t care much for one hit wonders, though in this case I may make an exception (he could win another, though). And next year will fun now that it looks like the chase to pass Nicklaus is not a forgone conclusion.

Club pros — Should amateurs be barred from the Masters or the Opens? I think it was a good thing to cut the number down to 20, and maybe 10 would be even more appropriate. But I don’t think their presence detracts from the tournament at all. There’s always a possibility for a good Cinderella story, and this is their organization after all. And I love hearing the stories about what a thrill it is for some of them to play in a big-time event (and perhaps win a year’s pay in a week!). It’s part of the flavor of this event.

But after he failed to increase his lead on Saturday, and in fact lost half of it, I had a feeling that this might finally be the time Tiger was tamed on a major Sunday. I told everyone I thought might care that this could be the Sunday when Tiger goes down (alas, I didn’t post those thoughts here, for the record). Still, I thought it would be Paddy.

While monitoring the action on my [name-brand mobile communications device] at a company picnic Sunday afternoon, I was mortified to see another snowman appear on defending champ’s scorecard. But when I saw that Yang had already caught Tiger, I thought, “That would do, as well.”

I tried not to get any more results before I could watch the DVR replay at home that night, but caught sight of Yang and the trophy on a TV at the health club (I don’t work out there, I just swim with my son!). Even knowing the outcome in advance, watching the final few holes that evening was thrilling. And I can’t get over the look on Tiger’s face when they zoomed in on him on 17 green while Yang was lining up his par putt for a two-stroke lead (he missed). Tiger looked frustrated, tired, angry, very tense. He was swearing and muttering to himself. I’ve never seen him look so un-composed. It was very telling, I thought.

It will be very interesting to see how the majors unfold next year. It’s not hard to imagine Tiger putting more and more pressure on himself as time slips past. The ground shifted in the golf world on Sunday. And the aftershocks may well be felt for years to come.

I don’t think Tiger’s problem was his putting, per se. Tiger putted great earlier in the week. Having heard Brad Faxon talking about this on Monday, I’m satisfied that the vagaries of the poa greens made it close to impossible for Tiger to cash in on his superiority in the putting dept.

I think what this championship demonstrated was the limits of Tiger’s sit-back-and-wait-for-the-rest-of-the-field-to-fold strategy. It was a good strategy that has served Tiger well over the years, but it’s hardly foolproof. Occasionally, another player who is within striking distance of the lead after 54 holes is going to slip through the cracks and actually manage to play OVER his head at the crucial time.

I think this loss will be about as tough as they come for Tiger (with the possible exception of the last Masters he was trying to win for “Pops”). I think it’ll be tough for him because he DID play well enough to win, but he went into defensive mode much too early (as I think you noted in one of your earlier posts). Going forward, he’s going to need to stick his neck out and try to put the field away even if he IS sitting on a modest lead going into Sunday.

As for Yang, he obviously earned this, and I wouldn’t take anything away from him. That said, whenever an unknown long-shot wins one these things, I really, really want them to back it up with some more wins in the ensuing years. I don’t think it lends any prestige to the event or the game for a relatively obscure player like Shaun Micheel to grab a major title and then go right back to being obscure again.