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Y.E. Yang is returning to Florida this weekend in an effort to defend his title at the Honda Classic. Yang, whose first win of his career on the PGA Tour came at this tournament last season, was relatively unknown until an epic 2009 campaign.

The 2009 PGA Championship will be held at Hazeltine National Golf Club, in Chaska, Minnesota from August 10 through 16, 2009 and still has a very, very limited number of volunteer opportunities available.

The volunteer/uniform fee is $191.70. You will receive a volunteer uniform, an official copy of The 91st PGA Championship Journal, food vouchers, and off-site parking with shuttle service to the Championship. In addition you will receive a Volunteer Credential, good for access to the grounds and the Wanamaker Club all seven days of the Championship.

You must be willing to volunteer at least 16 hours during the week and be 22 years old by August 10.

Many golfers dream or ponder the thought of being inside of the ropes while competing for one of golf's biggest titles.

Fortunately, there is an easy way to do that. Sort of, at least.

Volunteer opportunities are still available for the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.

As soon as Tiger Woods announced his injury following a spectacular Monday finish to the U.S. Open, golf commentators claimed that some player would find a great deal of opportunity in Tiger's absence.

At this point, it certainly looks like Padraig Harrington is that player. The Irishman whose first major title was won at the 2007 Open Championship rallied on Sunday to finish at 3 under par for 72 holes. Paddy started at one over par for the day, but climbed the leaderboard by posting a brilliant final round of 66.

With that performance, Harrington ousted a number of players searching for their first major title, leaving Ben Curtis and Sergio Garcia in the dust, both two strokes behind.

Interestingly enough, Garcia's last run at a major title came in a Sunday duel between Harrington and Sergio, which was significant as Garcia lost a lead he held for most of the four days of play during that round. This year, however, Sergio performed well on Sunday with a two under par 68, but simply came up short.

So, Harrington has captured two major titles in 2008: the Open and the PGA Championship, which will leave Harrington safely in third place in the World Golf Rankings.

Camilo Villegas and Henrik Stenson tied for fourth place behind Harrington, Curtis, and Garcia with matching one over par finishes for the week.

Phil Mickelson finished to seventh place with an even par round of 70, which never truly left Lefty in contention. Justin Rose (pictured left) failed to make a move with a lackluster 71 on Sunday.

However, J.B. Holmes, who started the day in second place and one under par struggled through his 18 holes en route to an 11 over par Sunday score of 81. Ouch.

The PGA Championship continues to be a tight race as players finish around par at the top of the leaderboard after the completion of 36 holes on Friday. At the top, J.B. Holmes has a one stroke lead over several young guns following a solid two under 68 to move to one under par for the week.

Holmes, however, has Ben Curtis, Justin Rose, Ken Duke, Sergio Garcia (pictured left), and Charlie Wi hot on the trail, all at even par. Rose jumped to the top of the leaderboard after a spectacular 67 on Friday to make up for a lackluster 71 on Thursday. Sergio fell a stroke back after posting a one over par Friday score, but leaving the Spanish star in contention for his first major title.

Henrick Stenson, David Toms, Paul Goydos, Jeev Singh, Aaron Baddeley, and Phil Mickelson are all one stroke behind the group of players tied for second. Of course, as this looks like the last major championship before the return of Tiger Woods, Mickelson's chance to claim an "easy one" without the world's best golfer in the field seems to be ending this week.

British Open champion Padraig Harrington will make the cut, but is behind at five over par for 36 holes due mainly to a 74 on Friday. South African major champions Retief Goosen and Ernie Els are six over par for the week, finishing in the mid-40s.

Notable players missing the cut include John Daly (pictured right) who played near even rounds of 74 and 75 to finish at nine over, and also former PGA Champion Vijay Singh who fired rounds of 76 and 76.

Of course, one of the interesting traditions of the PGA Championship is the inclusion of PGA of American members in the field. This year, Frank Esposito Jr. led the club professionals by making the cut with a seven over par performance for 36 holes.

Traditionally, the PGA Championship has been the least exciting major. For one, it, as always, is the end of "major championship" golf for yet another season. Outside of marking the end of truly exciting play (though, the PGA Tour would like the FedEx Cup to change that), the lack of the distinct appeal that other majors have contributes to its dull feeling.

This is often the case as the PGA Championship lacks a "course-identity" unlike the other majors - the Masters has Augusta, of course, the U.S. Open is always the center of disaster on pumped up historic courses, and the British Open is the highlight of traditional links layouts. The PGA has struggled to find its niche - though it has taken over some former U.S. Open venues in recent years.

For 2008, the PGA Championship will be going USGA on Oakland Hills. 2008 Open Champion Padraig Harrington commented, "The usual setup for the PGA is more like a tough U.S. tour event. It’s nearly more U.S. Open-type that the U.S. Open is at the moment, if that makes any sense. It’s actually like they switched the two of them around this year.”

Oakland Hills has added 318 yards since it hosted the Ryder Cup in 2004. Moreover, the course will play at a par 70 with converted par 5s to challenge players. Moreover, two of the course's par 3s are hardly pitch-and-putt at distances over 230 yards.

The only thing hotter than the 102 degree temperature at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the 89th PGA Championship was Tiger Woods. Despite it being the hottest day of play, Tiger kept his cool and stayed focus on the win. Woods pocketed $1,260,000 for his stellar play. It was his fourth Wanamaker trophy. He also won the event in 1999, 2000 and 2006.

Celebrating with Tiger was his wife, Elin, and the world's first television look at his daughter, Sam (dressed in Tiger's traditional Sunday Red). The victory was the 13th Major Championship in Woods' career. He is, of course, hoping to beat Jack Nicklaus' 18 Major titles in his career. Nicklaus won the PGA Championship five times.

Woods had a little trouble on the 13th hole, which is regarded as the easiest hole on the course. His shot landed in the bunker. However, in true Woods fashion, he pulled a par out of his bag. He then went on to three putt the 14th hole which cut his lead to only one. The 15th hole Tiger found his way again with a birdie and an extremely confident step as he made his way to 16. He parred the remaining holes --including the 18th. He won the event by two strokes with a final round of 69.

As Tiger smelled the win -- he honestly looked like a predator ready for the kill.

Woods had a total of 18 birdies and 9 bogeys over the course of the tournament.

Woody Austin gave Woods a little bit of worry on the final round. He had a birdie on 3, 11, 12, 13 .. Austin never had had a top ten finish in a Major before this event. In June, he won the Stanford St. Jude Championship. He also placed second at the Buick Open. The remainder of the year has found him usually finishing somewhere between 40th and 55th place. By finishing second, he took home $756,000. The second place finish also puts him on the 2007 Presidents Cup Team (bumping out Lucas Glover).

Ernie Els had 20 birdies over the course of the week which was the most of any player at the tournament. He shot a 66 in the final round and had 6 birdies (holes 3, 5, 8, 10, 13 and 14) which was his best round of the Championship. The 11 bogeys and 2 double-bogeys over the course of the week kept him from the win. Els pocketed $476,000 for his third place finish. Els was sweating so much it looked like he had wet his pants.

If you are planning to go to the 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills near Detroit, tickets went on sale this week.

The event will be played August 4 - 10, 2008. Practice round tickets cost $30 each and include complimentary parking and shuttle service. Individual tickets for the competition will not be available. A weeklong Executive Club ticket that comes with special privileges, such as indoor and outdoor seating near the 16th hole, goes for $700.

Tickets are on a first come, first served basis.

Volunteer opportunities are available as well.