South Korea's YE Yang made history as he became the first man to overturn a Tiger Woods 54-hole lead in a major and claimed the US PGA Championship at Hazeltine National.

Yang, 37, becomes the first Asian-born player to win a major and he denied the world number one a 15th such victory, the American having previously enjoyed a perfect record in turning 14 third-round major leads into wins.

World number 110 Yang, with just one previous win in the United States to his name, landed his second in style, first overturning a two-shot lead and then eagling the par-four 14th hole to move in front before holding his nerve down the stretch to seal victory at seven under par with a two-under round of 70.

Woods came up short by three shots, taking a 75 for second place, with Lee Westwood of England and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy tied for third place at three under.

"I hit the ball so much better than my score indicates," Woods said.

"I hit it great all day. I made absolutely nothing. I just have to say (it was a) terrible day on the greens and I had it at the wrong time.

"I was certainly in control of the tournament for most of the day, but just didn't make anything today.

"I hit the ball great off the tee, hit my irons well. I did everything I needed to do except for getting the ball in the hole."

The catalyst for Yang's victory came when he sent down a brilliant bunker shot for eagle at the par-four 14th as Woods birdied to take a one-shot lead with four to play.

Woods had begun the fourth round at a rain-softened Hazeltine with a two-shot lead at eight under par over playing partner Yang and defending champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland.

Yang upped the ante with a birdie at the par-five third and Woods folded at the par-three fourth, three-putting for bogey to fall into a tie with the Korean at seven under.

Yang's time in the lead was short-lived as he bogeyed the fifth, while Harrington narrowly missed birdie chances at the fifth and sixth to stay tied for second at six under.

A third of an inch of rain had fallen overnight on the 7,674-yard, par-72 Minnesota course after Woods completed a third-round 71 to move closer to a record-tying fifth US PGA title.

Playing conservative, low-risk golf, the world number one had seen his four-stroke halfway lead cut in half by Yang's five-under 67 and Harrington's 69.

Also within reach of Woods, winner of his last two tournaments, was Glover and Sweden's Henrik Stenson, a further two shots in arrears at four under par, with Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen and Ernie Els of South Africa at three under.

Harrington had duelled with Woods the previous Sunday at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational until playing a disastrous 16th hole in Akron, Ohio, and the Irishman's reign as PGA champion was undone in one hole seven days later with a calamity at the par-three eighth, a quintuple bogey eight having found the right-sided lake off the tee.

Woods took bogey at the same hole to fall to six under and the co-leaders made the turn with a three-shot lead over the field.

The US PGA champion had come out of the final pairing for the last 13 years and Woods took control once more with a birdie at the par-five 11th, only to bogey the 12th and drop back into a share of the lead with the Korean at six under.

Then came Yang's moment of magic at the 14th, Woods making birdie to stay in the hunt with four to play. There was still time for drama as Woods bogeyed the par-three 17th only for Yang to miss his par putt and the Korean went to the 72nd hole still with a one-shot lead over the world number one.

Yang stayed cool at the 18th and sent in a remarkable hybrid shot from the left fairway fringe under a tree that just missed the hole, the Korean allowing himself a fist pump. From the other side but on the fairway, Woods' five iron found left greenside rough.

That left Woods needing yet another miracle shot to rescue but his effort ran past the hole and Yang had two putts from 10 feet to become US PGA champion. He needed just one and history was made, Woods bogeying the 18th for his 75.

Westwood, third at last month's Open having bogeyed the 72nd hole to miss a play-off with Stewart Cink and Tom Watson, birdied the par-four 14th en route to a two-under 70 to be first in the clubhouse at three under.

McIlroy was next to join him having rebounded from a double-bogey six at the first, completing a round of 70 with five birdies and one bogey, the 20-year-old securing a second top-10 finish in a major this year having tied for 10th at the US Open.

Glover had got to six under after five holes before being derailed by four bogeys in the next seven holes. A birdie at the 15th restored him to three under but he bogeyed the last for a 74 to take fifth place at two under.

South Africa's Ernie Els (74), Stenson (75), Germany's Martin Kaymer (73) and Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen (74) tied for sixth place at two under par, while Harrington closed with a 78 to tie for 10th with Americans Dustin Johnson (70), Zach Johnson (71) and John Merrick (70) as well as Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell (72) and Italy's Francesco Molinari (72), making it eight Europeans in the final top 10.

Collated final-round scores & totals (USA unless stated, par 72):

280 Y.E. Yang (Kor) 73 70 67 70

283 Tiger Woods 67 70 71 75

285 Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 71 73 71 70, Lee Westwood (Eng) 70 72 73 70

286 Lucas Glover 71 70 71 74

287 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 73 70 74, Ernie Els (Rsa) 75 68 70 74, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 73 70 71 73, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 73 71 68 75

288 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 74 73 69 72, Dustin Johnson 72 73 73 70, Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 70 75 71 72, Zach Johnson 74 73 70 71, John Merrick 72 72 74 70, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 68 73 69 78

289 Hunter Mahan 69 75 74 71, Vijay Singh (Fij) 69 72 75 73, Tim Clark (Rsa) 76 68 71 74

290 Michael Allen 74 71 72 73, Ross Fisher (Eng) 73 68 73 76, Oliver Wilson (Eng) 74 72 72 72, Corey Pavin 73 71 71 75, Ian Poulter (Eng) 72 70 76 72

291 Scott McCarron 75 72 71 73, Brendan Jones (Aus) 71 70 73 77, Ben Curtis 73 72 73 73, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 69 76 69 77, John Rollins 73 73 68 77, Robert Allenby (Aus) 69 75 75 72, K J Choi (Kor) 73 72 73 73, Stephen Ames (Can) 74 71 70 76

292 Jeff Overton 72 74 75 71, Steve Flesch 74 73 69 76, Kevin Sutherland 73 72 74 73, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 70 77 73 72

293 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 75 73 71 74, Soren Hansen (Den) 72 76 74 71, David Toms 69 75 72 77, Boo Weekley 74 74 71 74, Woody Austin 73 73 73 74, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 70 76 73 74, Fred Couples 74 74 73 72

294 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 76 70 72 76, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 71 73 78 72, Kenny Perry 74 70 78 72, Kevin Na 73 75 71 75, Chad Campbell 74 73 73 74, Ben Crane 70 75 72 77, Rich Beem 71 76 75 72, Luke Donald (Eng) 71 77 73 73

295 Anthony Kim 73 74 71 77, Michael Sim (Aus) 73 75 76 71, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 77 71 70 77, Camilo Villegas (Col) 73 73 76 73, Thomas Levet (Fra) 72 75 76 72

296 Charlie Wi (Kor) 72 76 75 73, Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) 74 74 76 72, Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn) 71 74 73 78, Bob Tway 72 76 74 74

297 Richard Green (Aus) 75 73 74 75, Tom Lehman 72 74 76 75, John Mallinger 73 71 76 77

298 Nathan Green (Aus) 72 75 76 75, J J Henry 72 73 80 73, Jim Furyk 73 75 73 77, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 76 70 76 76

299 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 74 73 74 78, Justin Leonard 73 75 73 78, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 74 70 78 77, David Smail (Nzl) 75 73 75 76, Paul Goydos 70 78 78 73, Stewart Cink 73 73 72 81

300 Phil Mickelson 74 74 76 76

301 Greg Bisconti 75 72 78 76

302 Sean O'Hair 74 73 82 73

303 Grant Sturgeon 73 71 80 79, Chris Wood (Eng) 74 73 77 79, Bob Estes 74 74 77 78

305 Alastair Forsyth (Sco) 73 75 75 82