Cabrera overcomes odds, charges to win Masters

Mike Dudurich

Posted 2009-04-13

El Gato has once again proven mightier than the Tiger. For the second time in almost two calendar years, Angel Cabrera has withstood the pressure of a Tiger Woods Sunday charge and won a major championship. It was hardly the march of a stoic champion on Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club, but the burly Argentinean overcame some potentially-fatal mistakes, making birdies on 2 of the last four holes to get into the first three-man playoff in 22 years at the Masters.

The collapse suffered by Kenny Perry coming down the stretch continued on the second hole of the playoff when he missed the 10th green and couldn’t get up and down and Cabrera made a routine 4.

Perry bogeyed 17 and 18 and Chad Campbell, the third man in the playoff, birdied 2 holes of Amen Corner and then 15. But Campbell missed a 6-footer on the first playoff hole to fall out. Cabrera, who won the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in suburban Pittsburgh, became the first Argentinean to win the Masters. It was only his second PGA Tour victory, but it gives him quite a historical footnote.

Cabrera and Woods are the only active PGA Tour players with a Masters and U.S. Open victory. Cabrera’s English is sketchy, at best, so he spoke through an interpreter during the awards ceremonies.

"This is a great moment, the dream of any golfer to win the Masters," Cabrera said. "I'm so emotional I can barely talk."

At times during his round, it looked as though Cabrera was having trouble breathing and/or swallowing. He bogeyed the 4th and 5th holes and dropped another on the 10th. Cabrera appeared to be on the verge of falling out of contention but then roared back with birdies on 13, 15 and 16. He made a par to finish out regulation, but on the first playoff hole (the 18th) he hit it into the trees on the right off the tee and then rattled his next shot off a tree and into the fairway.

None of that stopped Cabrera from winning his second major in the last eight that have been contested. What makes that amazing is this stat: Coming into this week, he’s played in 29 events, has recorded 1 top 10 and missed 10 cuts.

While the eventual champion and the man most people thought would win (Perry) thrashed and battled, several groups ahead one of the great shows in Masters was taking place. Woods and Phil Mickelson were paired together, not in the final group as everyone hoped, but they combined to give the huge patron galleries and a worldwide television audience non-stop excitement.

Mickelson tied a Masters record with a 30 on the front nine to get into contention. Woods didn’t do much early, but played well through Amen Corner, then caught his greatest rival with three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the legendary back nine.

Mickelson dumped a ball into Rae’s Creek in front of the 12th green and went on to make double bogey.

He also missed birdie putts of less than 6 feet on 15 and 17. He took away whatever chance he had of getting into a tie but making bogey on 18. Woods uncharacteristically bogeyed the final two holes and shot a 68 and finished at 8-under. "I felt that when Tiger and Phil were making birdies and were making a move, I had to make a move myself in order to be the winner," Cabrera said.

It wasn’t exactly a smooth move, but it was good enough to get the job done. There’s a reason the Masters is the highlight of the golf season for many people and it’s not just because it’s the first one. This was, pure and simple, spectacular drama. Even casual observers, in between Easter meals, got pulled into the telecast. It’s corny, I’ll admit, but it is a tradition unlike any other. And I grow to appreciate the event and what it stands for every year.

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