Kuala Lumpur: Korea\u2019s history-maker Y.E. Yang will feature in his maiden appearance at the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open later this month with every intention of making up for a quiet campaign on this season\u2019s PGA Tour.<\/p>\n
Yang, Asia\u2019s first male golfer to win a Major championship when he defeated Tiger Woods in a head-to-head showdown at the 2009 PGA Championship, has confirmed his entry in the Y150 million (approximately US$1.48 million) tournament sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.<\/p>\n
He will be joined in the Panasonic Open by a host of Asian Tour champions who include reigning Order of Merit winner Thaworn Wiratchant, 2011 number one Juvic Pagunsan and current Merit leader Kiradech Aphibarnrat.<\/p>\n
Yang endured an inconsistent season in America where he amassed only two top-25 finishes and missed 10 cuts in 19 appearances. He failed to qualify for the on-going Play-off series but will be determined to make amends in the tail-end of the golfing season.\n<\/p>\n
He turned to swing coach Mark Blackburn for help earlier this year and believes it would take some time for his game to come around.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy game is getting better. I\u2019ve had good practice and my swing and condition feel good. Every player has his up-and-downs. I\u2019ve had some problems with my swing mechanism and these sort of things happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel a bit more comfortable now so I think my game is getting better,\u201d said Yang.<\/p>\n
The Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open will make a return to the Ibaraki Country Club from September 26 to 29. It will be an important tournament as players jostle for positions on the Asian Tour\u2019s Order of Merit.<\/p>\n
The top-10 players as of October 7 will qualify for the US$7 million CIMB Classic in Malaysia, co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour while the leading two players not otherwise exempt will qualify for the US$8.5 million WGC-HSBC Champions in China based on the rankings on October 14.<\/p>\n
To be staged for the sixth straight season, the Panasonic Open is poised to attract a stellar field including defending champion Masanori Kobayashi of Japan, last season\u2019s Asian Tour\u2019s Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n
The highly acclaimed Ibaraki Country Club, situated in Osaka, was the first venue for the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open when the event was launched as a co-sanctioned event in 2008. Japan\u2019s Hideto Tanihara won the inaugural tournament.<\/p>\n
Since then, the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open has welcomed many other worthy champions including Japan\u2019s Daisuke Maruyama (2009) and Tetsuji Hiratsuka (2011) and Brendan Jones (2010) of Australia.<\/p>\n
The prestigious event is hosted by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation, Panasonic Corporation and Japan Golf Association.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kuala Lumpur: Korea\u2019s history-maker Y.E. Yang will feature in his maiden appearance at the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open later this month with every intention of making up for a quiet campaign on this season\u2019s PGA Tour.<\/p>\n
Yang, Asia\u2019s first male golfer to win a Major championship when he defeated Tiger Woods in a head-to-head showdown at the 2009 PGA Championship, has confirmed his entry in the Y150 million (approximately US$1.48 million) tournament sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour.<\/p>\n
He will be joined in the Panasonic Open by a host of Asian Tour champions who include reigning Order of Merit winner Thaworn Wiratchant, 2011 number one Juvic Pagunsan and current Merit leader Kiradech Aphibarnrat.<\/p>\n
Yang endured an inconsistent season in America where he amassed only two top-25 finishes and missed 10 cuts in 19 appearances. He failed to qualify for the on-going Play-off series but will be determined to make amends in the tail-end of the golfing season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news"],"yoast_head":"\n