Yang Yong-eun emerged as the winner of the 2009 Honda Classic on Sunday, taking the first USPGA title of his career.

The Korean held off a late charge by America’s John Rollins to win the tournament by a single shot. A tense two-putt over a distance of 50 feet on the 18th helped Yang stay a shot ahead of Rollins and take the win.

“It was actually pretty intimidating,” Yang said the finish. “Looking at the green conditions on that hole, I just asked myself, what do I need to do to two-putt this? You know, the grass was leaning towards the water. It was a downhill putt. It was very hard to determine the speed.”

Rollins saluted Yang’s calm play on the 18th, telling reporters: “From 50 feet, it’s not easy to do that to win your first golf tournament. My hat’s off to him.”

The win earned Yang entries to the US Masters, WGC CA Championship and a cheque for a million dollars. The Korean was also awarded a two year exemption for the PGA Tour.

Robert Allenby emerged as the leader of the 2009 Honda Classic after the conclusion of the first round of play on Thursday.

The Australian birdied the final hole to reach a score of 4 under and break free of a group of several players, including Stewart Cink and Sergio Garcia, who now lurk one shot back on 67.

“I was very happy to hit a 6-iron at the last to six inches, and just tap it in and walk away,” Allenby told the AFP.

“I’m happy with four-under. I think any time you shoot under par around this golf course, you’re doing well. I think four-under is a fantastic start. Puts me in great stead for the next three days.”

Sergio Garcia would also have been satisfied with a good start to the tournament after suffering an early exit from the WGC Matchplay Championship last week.

“I still felt like I played great on the back nine, and I shot one-over,” Garcia said. “That tells you everything about this course, and the last four or five holes are quite tough. I was happy to finish three-under, and it’s a good start.”

The 2009 Honda Classic is being played at Palm Beach Gardens, a former PGA National course.