THE organisers of the Barclays Scottish Open will be hoping that Angel Cabrera brings with him some of the drama of the Masters when the new owner of the famous green jacket tees up at Loch Lomond in July.
The winner of two of the past eight majors – he was US Open champion at Oakmont in 2007 – Cabrera made light of a potentially catastrophic visit to the woods which guard the right side of Augusta's 18th fairway during the first extra hole of Sunday
night's sudden-death play-off against Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell.
Having pushed his drive, there was no obvious escape route from the corridor of pine trees, which seemed to leave the Argentine's title hopes in tatters. But Cabrera took the bold option of trying to punch an iron shot back into play.
Tiger Woods had already tried and failed to execute a similar rescue mission when completing his closing round with a bogey. So it was no surprise when a loud crack signalled contact between ball and wood. The Argentine couldn't see what happened next. "I heard it," he said.
Truthfully, Cabrera's ball could easily have stayed in the copse or been diverted to an unplayable lie. Fortuitously, it cannoned off the tree back onto the fairway. "It was a very short moment, " Cabrera remembered as he waited for news of his fate, "because I asked my caddie. He quickly said: 'We're fine. It's on the fairway'."
With luck on his side, Cabrera needed to take advantage of the opportunity in front of him. In a tournament likely to be remembered as much for the mistakes made by many of the championship contenders as well as the birdies and eagles which restored excitement to the season's first major, the Argentine showed a cool head to get up and down for par.
His pitch shot to the green was assured and it took nerve to hole from eight feet to stay alive. When the pressure was applied at the second extra hole, the tenth, and Perry's mud ball squirted left of the green, Cabrera wafted a short iron onto the putting surface and gratefully took two putts for glory.
Intriguingly, it was the same putter he'd used for his breakthrough victory in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2005.
Now aged 39, Cabrera seemed to spend much of the final round on the periphery of the action. But only once in the past 18 years, when Zach Johnson won in 2007, has the champion not been positioned in the final group on the final day.
For all the excitement and drama which surrounded the spectacular surges of Phil Mickelson and Woods – this sub-plot was presented as the main story-line for much of the final round – history was always against this charismatic pair making up a seven-shot deficit. Only two players had previously pulled off such a feat – Jackie Burke who came from eight strokes behind to win in 1956, and Gary Player, who rallied from seven back in 1978.
After Woods and Mickelson came up a little short, a door seemed to open for Perry to become the oldest major winner. Once the American faltered, however, Cabrera was able to call on the experience of winning the US Open two years previously to pull off an unexpected triumph.
Since succeeding in Pittsburgh, the South American hadn't posted another top-20 finish in the majors. And when he shanked a long iron shot on the par-5 eighth, it was difficult to imagine how Cabrera would shake off the humdrum mood which caused him to post three bogeys in ten holes. After all, the Argentine hadn't finished in the top five at any event for more than a year and was down to 69th in the world.
Once a smoker, Cabrera now chews gum on the course. To his credit, chewing furiously, he found three birdies over the closing six holes and was unflinching under the duress of a play-off.
Cabrera succeeded where his compatriot, Roberto de Vicenzo, who inadvertently signed for the wrong score, had failed 41 springs ago.
Interestingly, though, it was another Spanish-speaking champion, Seve Ballesteros, who was on Cabrera's mind. "For me he's the greatest golfer ever," said the Argentine of his fellow Masters winner, who is recuperating from brain cancer. "I've always had a great friendship with Seve. We need him to get back. We need him in the game."
Back up to 18th in the world, a leap of more than 50 places, Cabrera reckons he's better equipped today to cope with the clamour which surrounds major champions than he was two years ago. "I think I'm more prepared," he said. "I think the US Open win got me by surprise. I'm more aware."
Hailing from a modest background in Cordoba, Cabrera required help to make his way in the game.
Thanks to his mentor, Eduardo Romero, he was able to leave the caddie-shack behind and become the first Argentine to win majors in America. A long hitter who can pose a threat at any tournament when he marries power off the tee with accuracy, it isn't out of the question this shy, unassuming champion will add to his haul of major triumphs.
