Defending champion Yang Yong-eun, the first man from Asia to win a major golf tournament title, will start his first round with Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship this week, the tournament organizers said Tuesday.
The South Korean golfer grabbed the PGA title last year after edging out the world's best player, Tiger Woods, in the final hole.
He is now gearing up to defend his PGA Championship title in Kohler, Wisconsin, in a match that kicks off Thursday (local time).
According to the PGA Tour, Yang and Woods are grouped with 2004 champion Vijay Singh from Fiji. Although a Yang-Woods showdown is expected, the two players are not considered title contenders for the 2010 PGA Championship because both have been sluggish in the 2010 season.
Yang has made only two top 10 finishes this year, and has been cut off four times in the 17 tournaments he attended.
Woods is on the verge of losing his world's top player ranking after a series of lackluster performances this year after months away from the field after a sex scandal.
Other six South Koreans and Korean-Americans -- Choi Kyung-joo (K.J. Choi), Kim Kyung-tae, Anthony Kim, Noh Seung-yul, Wi Chang-soo (Charlie Wi) and Na Sang-wook (Kevin Na) -- are eyeing another upset like Yang's at the season's last major tournament.
Noh, 19, has been invited to the tournament as a non-ranking player, becoming the first South Korean to receive the invitation.
