CHASKA, Minnesota, Aug 16 (Reuters) - South Korean Yang Yong-Eun became Asia's first male major winner after overhauling Tiger Woods in stunning fashion to clinch the U.S. PGA Championship by three shots on Sunday.
Trailing American world number one and overwhelming favourite Woods by two strokes overnight, Yang, ranked 110th, kept his composure in difficult, swirling winds at Hazeltine National to fire a two-under-par 70.
He snatched the lead for the first time when he spectacularly chipped in from just off the green to eagle the par-four 14th on the way to an eight-under total of 280.
Although the ice-cool Korean three-putted the 17th for his second bogey of the day, he finished in style, striking a superb three-iron approach from 210 yards over a tree to 10 feet at the par-four last and coolly sinking the birdie putt.
He punched his right fist in celebration before raising both hands above his head to acknowledge the roars from the huge gallery packed around the 18th green.
"This means the world to me right now," a beaming Yang, 37, told reporters, speaking through an interpreter. "It hasn't really sunken in, but I do know the significance of it.
"I wasn't that nervous because it's just a game of golf. I've tried to master the art of controlling my emotions throughout my career and I think it turned out well today."
Although relatively unknown in the United States, Yang won his maiden PGA Tour title at the Honda Classic in March and held off Woods to win the 2007 European Tour's Champions tournament in China.
Woods, in pursuit of a 15th major title but his first this year, missed four birdie putts from 12 feet or less to card an erratic 75 featuring five bogeys and two birdies.
The 33-year-old, renowned as the best closer in the game, stumbled to the finish line with bogeys on the last two holes.
It was the first time Woods failed to triumph in a major after holding at least a share of the lead after 54 holes, having accomplished the feat to clinch his 14 previous titles.
TERRIBLE DAY
"I hit the ball so much better than my score indicates," Woods said after totalling 33 putts. "I made absolutely nothing. I just had a terrible day on the greens.
"I was certainly in control of the tournament for most of the day, but just didn't make anything. I did everything I needed to do except for getting the ball in the hole.
"Y.E. played great all day," added Woods, who had been bidding for a third consecutive PGA Tour win. "He did things he needed to do. He was driving the ball in play, hitting the ball in the correct parts of the green and giving himself looks."
Scoring was difficult in gusting winds at Hazeltine, at 7,674 yards the longest layout to stage a major and playing even longer after being softened by overnight rain.
Two ahead of the chasing pack at the start of the day, Woods twice dropped back into a tie for the lead with Yang after covering the front nine in two-over-par 38.
Woods edged a stroke in front with a two-putt birdie at the par-five 11th before faltering at the 12th where he overshot the green with his approach and chipped 17 feet past the cup.
Yang then grabbed the outright lead with his stunning chip at the 301-yard 14th, holing out from rough beside a greenside bunker and pumping his right fist three times in celebration.
Woods, who had found the same bunker off the tee, splashed out to seven feet and knocked in the putt to keep the deficit to one, but he was never able to close the gap.
Britons Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy signed off with matching 70s to share third place at three-under 285.
Holder Padraig Harrington, tied for second overnight, tumbled backwards into a tie for 10th at level par, the Irishman carding 78 after finding water twice on the eighth to run up an ugly quintuple-bogey eight.
Robert Roy Britt, Editorial Director, Space.Com
The annual Perseid meteor shower is expected to put on a good show this week for those willing to get up in the wee hours of the morning and wait patiently for the shooting stars.
In North America, the best time to watch will be between midnight to 5 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 12, but late Tuesday night and also Wednesday night could prove fruitful, weather permitting.
The Perseids are always reliable, and sometimes rather spectacular. The only things that puts a damper on the August show are bad weather or bright moonlight. Unfortunately this week, as the Perseids reach their peak Tuesday and Wednesday nights, the moon will be high in the sky, outshining the fainter meteors.
Still, skywatchers around the globe will have a good chance of spotting the brighter meteors. Some already are enjoying the show.
Already underway
The Perseids are bits of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, which has laid down several streams of debris, each in a slightly different location, over the centuries as it orbits the sun. Every August, Earth passes through these debris streams, which spread out over time.
"They are typically fast, bright and occasionally leave persistent trains," says Joe Rao, SPACE.com's Skywatching Columnist. "And every once in a while, a Perseid fireball will blaze forth, bright enough to be quite spectacular and more than capable to attract attention even in bright moonlight."
Low numbers of Perseids, including some bright fireballs, have already been reported as Earth began entering the stream in late July. Seasoned observers have counted up to 25 per hour already, or nearly one every two minutes.
Most meteors are no bigger than a pea. They vaporize as they enter Earth's atmosphere, creating bright streaks across the sky.
The Perseids appear to emanate from the constellation Perseus, which rises high in the sky around midnight and is nearly overhead by dawn. Like most meteor showers, the hours between midnight and daybreak are typically the best time to watch, because that's when the side of Earth you are on is rotating into the direction of Earth's travels through space, so meteors are "scooped up" by the atmosphere at higher rates, much like a car's windshield ends the lives of more bugs than does the rear bumper.
Astronomers expect up to 200 meteors per hour in short bursts of up to 15 minutes or so. But many of the fainter meteors will simply not be visible due to moonlight, and rates will go down even more for those in urban areas. More likely a typical observer under reasonably dark skies might hope to see a meteor every couple minutes when the bursts come, and fewer during lulls.
When to watch
The best time to watch is between midnight and dawn Wednesday. Forecasters say the best stretch could come between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. ET (1-2 a.m. PT), which would be after daybreak in Europe. Some Perseids might be visible late Tuesday night, and Wednesday night into Thursday morning could prove worthwhile, too.
Meteor forecasting is still in its infancy, however, so the best bet for anyone truly hungry to spot shooting stars is to get in as much observing time as possible from around 11 p.m. Tuesday night until dawn Wednesday, and if you miss that show, try the same time frame Wednesday evening into Thursday morning.
Meteors should be visible in the pre-dawn hours, weather permitting, all around the Northern Hemisphere.
"Earth passes through the densest part of the debris stream sometime on Aug. 12," said Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Then, you could see dozens of meteors per hour."
Viewing tips
The best location is far from city and suburban lights. Ideally, find a structure, mountain or tree to block the moon. Then scan as much of the sky as possible. The meteors can appear anywhere, heading in any direction. If you trace their paths backward, they'll all point to the constellation Perseus.
People in locations where any chill might occur should dress warmer than they think necessary to allow for prolonged viewing.
Seasoned skywatchers advise using a blanket or lounge chair for comfort, so you can lie back and look up for long periods. Allow at least 15 minutes for your eyes to fully adjust to the darkness. Then expect meteors to be sporadic: You might see two in a row, or several minutes could go by between shooting stars.
Avid meteor watchers might want to try scanning the northeastern horizon from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. local time (your local time, wherever you are) for Perseids that graze the horizon.
"Earthgrazers are meteors that approach from the horizon and skim the atmosphere overhead like a stone skipping across the surface of a pond," Cooke explained. "They are long, slow and colorful – among the most beautiful of meteors." He notes that an hour of watching may net only a few of these at most, but seeing even one can make the whole night worthwhile.
LOS ANGELES, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Paula Abdul has decided to quit the top-rated U.S. television show "American Idol," ending weeks of speculation about her future as a judge on the popular singing contest.
Making her announcement on her Twitter feed Tuesday, Abdul said "with sadness in my heart," she had decided not to return to "Idol" which is due to start auditions for its ninth season within days. She did not give any reason.
Abdul, 47, a singer/dancer turned TV personality, has been a mainstay of the show since it was launched in 2002 and quickly became an audience juggernaut for News Corp's Fox network, growing into an estimated $1 billion-plus brand.
"I'll miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day 1 become an international phenomenon," said Abdul, who was known for finding something positive in almost every performance.
"What I want to say most, is how much I appreciate the undying support and enormous love that you have showered upon me."
Fox and the show's producers FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment said they were "saddened" that Abdul would not be returning to the show as she had been "an important part of the 'American Idol' family over the last eight seasons."
"While Paula will not be continuing with us, she's a tremendous talent and we wish her the best," they said in a joint statement, also giving no reason for her departure.
Abdul's future with the show had been unclear since the eighth season ended in May with speculation rising as producers locked in new contracts with some of the other key players.
"Idol" producers renewed host Ryan Seacrest's contract last month for three years for a reported $15 million -- triple his previous salary -- with the new season to go to air in January 2010.
This week the show's producers announced songwriter and record producer Kara DioGuardi, who was brought in this year as the fourth judge alongside Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson to boost sliding viewership, would be back on the panel.
But the producers had said nothing about Abdul, whose talent manager said in July that she was upset about not having received a new proposal and might leave the show.
Reports speculated that she was seeking a hefty pay raise while other reports suggested she was unhappy with the way she was being treated.
Cowell, the often-acerbic British judge, has cast doubt on his own future with the show after his contract expires in May 2010 after repeated comments that he was getting bored with it.
Jackson's contract also expires in 2010 but he has not publicly indicated his wishes.
Despite sliding viewership, "American Idol" is still America's most watched TV show, drawing an average 26.3 million viewers to each episode in the last season that ended in May.
"American Idol" is seen in more than 100 countries and is a joint production between 19 Entertainment, a unit of CKX Inc , and FremantleMedia, a unit of British-based RTL Group, which is controlled by media giant Bertelsmann AG .
SEOUL, South Korea – Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is heading to North Korea for negotiations to secure the freedom of two detained American journalists, a news report said Tuesday, nearly five months after they were seized on the China border.
Clinton is on his way to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, where he will try to win the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unidentified high-level source.
It was not immediately clear when Clinton was expected to arrive.
The reported trip comes amid heightened tensions in the wake of North Korea's nuclear and missile tests in defiance of U.N. resolutions. Analysts have said the communist regime is expected to use the detained reporters as a negotiating card to win concessions from Washington.
The U.S. Embassy in Seoul said it was checking the report.
In Washington, Andrew Laine, a State Department spokesman, said he had seen the Yonhap report, but had no information.
Ling and Lee were arrested on March 17 near North Korea's border with China. The reporters for former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's Current TV media venture were sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labor for entering the country illegally and engaging in "hostile acts."
Pyongyang has expressed strong interest in one-on-one negotiations with Washington, while claiming it won't return to six-nation nuclear negotiations involving China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the United States.
The United States says it can talk bilaterally with the North, but only within the six-nation framework.
North Korea has rapidly escalated tensions this year. It conducted a long-range rocket launch, quit six-nation talks on ending its nuclear program, restarted its nuclear facilities, carried out its second-ever nuclear test and test-fired a series of ballistic missiles.
As a way to pressure North Korea to return to the negotiating table, Washington has been seeking international support for strict enforcement of a U.N. sanctions resolution adopted to punish the North for its May 25 nuclear test.
