Cabrera joins De Vicenzo as a major Argentine legend

Angel Cabrera wasn't even born when Roberto De Vicenzo edged Jack Nicklaus to win the 1967 British Open. By holding off both No. 1 Tiger Woods and No. 3 Jim Furyk on Sunday, Cabrera's victory might be even more impressive.  

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents

OAKMONT, Pa. -- Angel Cabrera didn't expect to knock Manu Ginobili off the front page of the newspapers back home in Argentina, but he might be surprised.

Sure, the 6-foot-6 forward for the San Antonio Spurs picked up yet another NBA Championship ring just two days ago. Ginobili scored a game-high 27 points in Game 4 as the Spurs swept the Cleveland Cavaliers, too.

Cabrera, though, held off the Nos. 1 and 3 players in the world, Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk, on Sunday to win the 107th U.S. Open at Oakmont. The victory was only the second in a major championship by an Argentine -- and the first in 40 years.

Cabrera wasn't even born when Roberto De Vicenzo won the British Open in 1967. And as it happens, De Vicenzo also beat the best player in the game, Jack Nicklaus, at Hoylake that year.

Cabrera was still modest as he pondered the impact of the most recent Argentine win.

"Ginobili is still going to be there on the front pages because he has accomplished things that no other Argentine has," Cabrera said. "What I have done has already been done by De Vincenzo, so what he has done will be more recognized."

Maybe. Maybe not. There's no disputing Cabrera has come a long way, though. The 37-year-old pro didn't even finish elementary school. Cabrera had to quit when he was 11 to caddy full-time and help put food on his family's table.

"So that's why probably these moments are enjoyed even more than the common things," Cabrera explained.

Caddies could play on Mondays at Cordoba Country Club, and Cabrera quickly taught himself the game. He lived two blocks from one of Argentina's most famous players, Eduardo Romero, who took an interest in the young man and remains one of his closest friends.

Cabrera turned pro at 20 and, after three unsuccessful tries at the European Tour qualifying school, Romero became his sponsor. The older pro also nudged his protege to spend more time on the practice range, and the work paid dividends.

He's won 16 times internationally now, including three times on the European Tour. Even in his wildest dreams, though, Cabrera, whose nickname like his father's is "El Pato," or "The Duck," never imagined a glorious Sunday afternoon like this one in western Pennsylvania.

"I watched all the majors on TV when I was a kid, and I never thought I would be here at this moment," Cabrera said. "It is very difficult to describe.

"Probably tomorrow when I wake up with this trophy beside me in my bed, I will realize that I have won the U.S. Open."

Cabrera came to Oakmont with six top-10s in majors, including three at the Masters, and he had never missed the cut at the U.S. Open. He is fearless off the tee and he has the power to dig the ball out of the dense and diabolical rough.

"I definitely usually play very well in the U.S. Open," he said. "Most of the time I'm not making any putts, but this week it was like everybody was missing the putts. So that gave me an advantage."

Cabrera led after 36 holes -- the only man left in red numbers -- but that 76 in the third round left him with some ground to make up on Sunday. By the time he made his second straight birdie at the fifth hole, though, Cabrera was back on top.

At one point, Cabrera was tied with four others, including the favored Woods, but he separated himself from the pack on the back nine with birdies at Nos. 11 and 15 to move 3 over and into a three-stroke lead.

The comfort zone disappeared as Cabrera's approach shots fed off the slick, sloping greens at Nos. 16 and 17 and he was unable to save par. Suddenly, he was tied with the hard-charging Furyk, who had made three birdies in a row.

Calling it the "most difficult moment of the day," Cabrera found the fairway and the green at the 18th hole, two-putting for par. He spent the next 30 minutes in the locker room anxiously waiting as first, Furyk, and then, Woods, failed to force the Monday playoff.

"I knew that I could do no more to lower my score, so I was only waiting and hoping that it was going to be a win," Cabrera said, speaking through an interpreter. He actually understands a considerable amount of English, but he doesn't feel he's fluent enough to speak for himself.

"Angel played a beautiful round of golf," Woods said. "He had some great golf shots, and that's what you have to do. He went out there and put all the pressure on Jim and I, and we fell one shot short."

Cabrera has a lumbering gait, not unlike Phil Mickelson, and he seemed relatively relaxed throughout the final round. This is by design, he said, because "I have had a lot of bad moments on the golf course in my life, and now I have decided to take this more easily."

Of course, those cigarettes he kept lighting up betrayed Cabrera a little, but he has his reasons. "Well, there are some players that have psychologists, sportologists; I smoke," he said.

Cabrera declined to compare his win with De Vicenzo's victory. He did say, though, that "the good thing is that I beat everybody here, not only Tiger Woods." Now, the course, that was another matter. "The golf course beat me," he said.

Cabrera wasn't sure where the celebration would be Sunday night, only that there would be one. Later, he planned to snuggle up to that big silver loving cup.

Who needs a puny little NBA Championship ring, anyway?