The Tiger Beat: No thrills. No chills.

Oh, Tiger, we swooned to your swashbuckling, risk-taking style. This new version of you, well, not so much.

By Michael Rand, Star Tribune

Last update: August 16, 2009 - 11:54 PM

As Tiger Woods and Y.E. Yang walked toward the seventh green Sunday at Hazeltine National, a turtle that had made its way from the greenside water hazard across most of the fairway turned around and headed back to its home.

It was an apt metaphor. The PGA Championship was, in fact, no place for turtles -- slow and steady did not win this race. Tiger's calculated caution was trumped by the unexpected guts and shot-making of Yang, who won over a segment of the swollen fan contingent as a result.

After taking a four-shot lead midway through the tournament, Woods opted for cruise control instead of the accelerator over the last two days. He was asked if he could have played more aggressively, but he refuted the notion by saying, "I don't know how aggressive I can play," and said he only laid up on one hole Sunday -- No. 7, with the turtle.

That was the hole where the Y.E.(S.) We Can campaign picked up steam in the gallery. When Woods took out an iron instead of going for the green on his second shot, several folks groaned. Yang, in a similar spot, pulled out a wood -- to notable applause. He pushed it into a greenside gallery, then had to scramble to save par (the same score Tiger wound up with). But it showed he was going for it.

Tiger was unflappable and stoic Sunday -- as he was for much of the tournament -- but those qualities didn't serve him as well as they typically do. He cruised around 72 holes bathed in adoration from fans and seemingly waiting for his competitors to wilt from his presence.

Some in the gallery Sunday continued to treat his victory as an inevitability. "Make him work," one fan said to Yang at 14, the implication being that the South Korean would serve everyone well by staying in the hunt to build drama for Tiger's victory.

But on that very hole, Yang chipped in for eagle. And, as we know, Tiger never caught him again.

Having walked roughly 50 miles with Tiger -- 30 miles at Hazeltine in 2002 and 20 more this year -- your humble Tracking Tiger correspondent only hopes he is qualified to speak to the differences in his game.

Woods seemingly used to believe more in risk and reward. He famously retooled his swing between his last appearance at Hazeltine in 2002 and this one, and he said Sunday one of the reasons was "to be more consistent in the big events. My career has certainly been more consistent over the last five years."

Indeed. And he did come into Sunday 14-for-14 in closing out majors when leading going into the final round. But he used to be more fun when he was bombing drives and gunning for pins.

Perhaps that's part of the reason why many folks who came to see him play Sunday ended up shouting "Go Yang!" as Y.E. walked to his ball on the 18th green. He had executed a gutsy second shot, and his reward was finishing off a cautious legend with a birdie.

Michael Rand • mrand@startribune.com

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