Yang, who had to go to the PGA Tour Qualifying School at the start of the season, got another bonus. He leapfrogged into top-10 of the President's Cup standings and made the team automatically.

The closest Asian-born players had come to winning the Majors was when 'Mr. Lu' - Liang-Huan Lu of Taiwan - finished one shot behind Lee Trevino at the 1971 British Open, and then T.C. Chen's two-chip error cost him a chance at the 1985 U.S. Open, where he was runner-up to Andy North.

Earlier Harrington lost his chance of making a bid with a quintuple bogey (+5) on the par-3 eighth hole. There ended his chances and he finished the day at 78 and in tied

tenth place at even par 288.

Yang also became the first Asian born player to win a major championship and it also marked the first time since the Official World Golf Rankings began in 1986, players outside the top 30 have won four straight majors -- Stewart Cink (33), Lucas Glover (71), Angel Cabrera (69) and Yang (110).