Yang flying under the radar

Reigning US PGA champion YE Yang says he has been “flying under the radar” at Whistling Straits this week.

Reigning US PGA champion YE Yang says he has been “flying under the radar” at Whistling Straits this week.

The South Korean dramatically became the first Asian man to win a major by coming from behind to beat Tiger Woods in Hazeltine last year.

The victory generated a huge amount of publicity in his homeland, with swarms of fans coming out to greet him near his home on Jeju Island.

But Yang has rarely been mentioned as a contender in the run up to this year’s tournament, which starts on Thursday.

“It’s been a year since my PGA win, so maybe I’m kind of out of the spotlight a little bit,” he said through a translator.

“For the past year, I haven’t been doing that great and maybe people think that I may not win this one again. So in that respect maybe that’s why I kind of am flying under the radar.”

Even though his arrival has been low key, Yang is sure to enjoy plenty of time in the limelight on the first two days after being paired with out-of-form Woods and Vijay Singh.

Yang is relishing the chance to play with two golfing stars but insists he will not be intimidated by the grouping.

He added: “I’ll be playing with two legendary golfers…it’s personally an honour to be playing with them.

“It’s not the last two days, so I think I’ll be able to play kind of with a more comfortable mindset.”