Don't get me wrong, he won the PGA fair and square, no beef whatsoever.
No, my query is more along the line of why not someone from Japan? Golf in Korea is a fairly recent endeavor while it has been around in Japan for at least a 100 years (albeit not the most prolific of games).
A long time ago players from the British Isles dominated the game, then Francis Ouimet came along and the resurgence of American players up until the domination of Jack Nicklaus and now again with Tiger Woods. But after Nicklaus there was a shift back to Europe with players like Ballesteros and Langer.
In Asia golf was dominated by Japan for a long time. Tsuneyuki Nakajima had an excellent opportunity to win the Open Championship until he found the green bunker on the Road Hole, I think he needed five shots to get it in the hole. I was actually in Japan at that time and can clearly remember the TV announcer completely braking down and crying uncontrolably on air. A little later Jumbo Ozaki dominated Japanese golf, but he was heavily involved with the yakuza and hardly ever competed outside Japan and was even once accused by no less than Greg Norman of cheating. After that he never played outside Japan again.
Shigeki Maruyama cetainly looked like he had the game required (shot a 58 in US Open qualifier) . Yet, instead of a Japanese player being the first to capture a major title it was a Korean, and not even their #1 player.
I guess that - in a rather perverted sense - truly prooves what a special position TW occupies withing the game. But does anyone here have any theories as to why a Japanese player haven't been able to brake through?
No, my query is more along the line of why not someone from Japan? Golf in Korea is a fairly recent endeavor while it has been around in Japan for at least a 100 years (albeit not the most prolific of games).
A long time ago players from the British Isles dominated the game, then Francis Ouimet came along and the resurgence of American players up until the domination of Jack Nicklaus and now again with Tiger Woods. But after Nicklaus there was a shift back to Europe with players like Ballesteros and Langer.
In Asia golf was dominated by Japan for a long time. Tsuneyuki Nakajima had an excellent opportunity to win the Open Championship until he found the green bunker on the Road Hole, I think he needed five shots to get it in the hole. I was actually in Japan at that time and can clearly remember the TV announcer completely braking down and crying uncontrolably on air. A little later Jumbo Ozaki dominated Japanese golf, but he was heavily involved with the yakuza and hardly ever competed outside Japan and was even once accused by no less than Greg Norman of cheating. After that he never played outside Japan again.
Shigeki Maruyama cetainly looked like he had the game required (shot a 58 in US Open qualifier) . Yet, instead of a Japanese player being the first to capture a major title it was a Korean, and not even their #1 player.
I guess that - in a rather perverted sense - truly prooves what a special position TW occupies withing the game. But does anyone here have any theories as to why a Japanese player haven't been able to brake through?
United States
