In one of the most extraordinary days in the history of major championships, the relatively unknown Yang Yong Eun, of South Korea, chased down Tiger Woods to win the US PGA Championship in spectacular fashion at the Hazeltine National Country Club last night.

Yang, who came to the final hole leading by a single shot, sank a ten-foot putt for birdie at the 72nd hole that guaranteed victory and sent immediate shock waves around the world. Still to putt for his par, Woods missed the hole and found himself beaten by a staggering three shots after a disappointing 75 that included five bogeys and only two birdies.

Yang, who became the first Asian player to win a major championship, had a round of 70 for an eight-under-par total of 280 and a first prize of $1.35 million (about £820,000). “I tried to keep my emotions under control on the course, but I shall have a crazy party tonight,” he said.

They would have been doing exactly the same thing in Seoul.

At the start of the day, Woods held a lead of two shots over Padraig Harrington and Yang and four over Henrik Stenson and Lucas Glover, the US Open champion. And of all those in the chasing pack, no one would have picked the Korean as the man to hunt down the world No 1.

What a contrast the diminutive Korean makes to Woods, who is physically imposing. And yet if all thoughts at the start of the day were on how soon Woods would pull away, they were quickly dispelled. Yang simply stood his ground, while Woods — barely believably — struggled for the first time in recent memory to buy a putt. A sign of things to come was a missed short birdie putt at the 1st and a three-putt bogey at the 4th. In all, Woods took 33 putts and paid a heavy price.

Out in 36 to Woods’s 38, Yang had drawn level on six under by the turn and knew that he had the momentum with him. Harrington’s hopes had come crashing to a halt at the 8th hole after a calamitous quintuple-bogey eight sent him plummeting down the leaderboard.

By rights, the Korean should have been shaking from top to bottom, as most of those who have found themselves sharing the final pairing with Woods usually do. But he was calmness personified, similar in outlook to his compatriot, K. J. Choi, the first South Korean to win on the PGA Tour in the US. How strange it was to see him leaning on his putter, legs crossed and watching Woods trying to catch him over the last few holes.

The turning point came at the short par-four 14th. Both players attempted to drive the green and both ended up in a greenside bunker. Uncharacteristically, Woods played a clumsy shot from the sand and then experienced what he has done to others so many times. Yang weighed up his shot, judged its weight to perfection and then “did a Tiger”, fist-pumping for all his worth as the ball rolled across the green and into the hole for an eagle. It was a celebration dance that was to be repeated tenfold on the 18th green as a hapless Woods watched on.

To his credit, Woods followed up by rolling in his birdie putt from about 12 feet, but he had fallen behind for the first time since Thursday and could not close the gap. For once, he seemed to have no answer to the questions being asked of him.

Few would have heard of Yang before this year. He did not take up the game until he was 19, spent 18 months doing national service, and did not turn professional until five years later. And yet he has a rare talent that allowed him to win the 2007 HSBC Champions Tournament in Shanghai, in a field containing Woods. This year he won for the first time on the US tour. “It was a bad day at the wrong time,” Woods said. “I played well enough to win but I didn’t putt well enough to win the championship. That’s just the way it goes.”

Lee Westwood, who finished third at the Open Championship at Turnberry but could so easily have won it, repeated the feat at Hazeltine after finishing on 285, three under par, and was joined by Rory McIlroy, who continued his excellent run in the majors with a final round of 70.

In the end, though, the stage belonged to a journeyman pro from the Far East. Who would have thought it?

Scores from Hazeltine

United States unless stated Leading final scores:

280: Yang Yong Eun (S Kor) 73, 70, 67, 70.

283: T Woods 67, 70, 71, 75.

285: L Westwood (GB) 70, 72, 73, 70; R McIlroy (N Ire) 71, 73, 71, 70. 286: L Glover 71, 70, 71, 74.

287: M Kaymer (Ger) 73, 70, 71, 73; E Els (SA) 75, 68, 70, 74; S Kjeldsen (Den) 70, 73, 70, 74; H Stenson (Swe) 73, 71, 68, 75.

288: J Merrick 72, 72, 74, 70; D Johnson 72, 73, 73, 70; Z Johnson 74, 73, 70, 71; G McDowell (N Ire) 70, 75, 71, 72; F Molinari (It) 74, 73, 69, 72; P Harrington (Ire) 68, 73, 69, 78.

289: H Mahan 69, 75, 74, 71; V Singh (Fiji) 69, 72, 75, 73; T Clark (SA) 76, 68, 71, 74.

290: I Poulter (GB) 72, 70, 76, 72; O Wilson (GB) 74, 72, 72, 72; M Allen 74, 71, 72, 73; C Pavin 73, 71, 71, 75; R Fisher (GB) 73, 68, 73, 76.

291: R Allenby (Aus) 69, 75, 75, 72; K.J.Choi (S Kor) 73, 72, 73, 73; B Curtis 73, 72, 73, 73; S McCarron 75, 72, 71, 73; S Ames (Can) 74, 71, 70, 76; B Jones (Aus) 71, 70, 73, 77; J Rollins 73, 73, 68, 77; Á Quirós (Sp) 69, 76, 69, 77.

292: J Overton 72, 74, 75, 71; G Fernández-Castaño (Sp) 70, 77, 73, 72; K Sutherland 73, 72, 74, 73; S Flesch 74, 73, 69, 76.

Selected others: 293: M Á Jiménez (Sp) 75, 73, 71, 74. 294: L Donald (GB) 71, 77, 73, 73. 295: A Kim 73, 74, 71, 77; R Goosen (SA) 77, 71, 70, 77. 300: P Mickelson 74, 74, 76, 76. 303: C Wood (GB) 74, 73, 77, 79. 305: A Forsyth (GB) 73, 75, 75, 82.

Yang's career in the ascendancy

Full name: Yang Yong Eun

Born: Jeju-do, South Korea, January 15, 1972

Height: 5ft 9in Weight: 13st 13lb

Turned pro: 1996

Married with three children

•Yang took up golf after attending a driving range in Korea when he was 19

•Won twice on the Asian Tour in 2006 and had three top-25 finishes on the European Tour in 2007

•Earned full exemption for this year’s PGA Tour in the US after qualifying at the 2008 school with five of his six rounds in the 60s

•Won the 2009 Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, in March