Cabrera conquers field at Oakmont

Battling the difficult course was tougher than beating
Tiger Woods.

OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — The only thing Angel Cabrera couldn’t conquer at this U.S. Open was Oakmont.

That was much tougher than Tiger Woods.

Cabrera hit all the right shots at the right time Sunday, none bigger than a booming tee shot down the middle of the 18th fairway that stopped a late slide, allowed him to post a 1-under 69 and forced Woods and Jim Furyk to catch him.

For the second straight major, Woods couldn’t buy a birdie.

For the second straight U.S. Open, Furyk couldn’t make a par.

Argentine champion

Cabrera became the first Argentine in 40 years to win a major, powering his way to a pair of birdies on the back nine at Oakmont that turned into a one-shot victory over two of the best players in the world.

“It is very difficult to describe this moment,” Cabrera said. “Probably tomorrow, when I wake up with this trophy beside me, I will realize I won the U.S. Open.”

Cabrera was in the clubhouse, an occasional smile to hide his nerves, when he watched Furyk fall out of a share of the lead on the 17th hole by trying to drive the green 306 yards away. The shot went into deep rough left of the green, his flop shot came up short and his 8-foot par putt swirled around the lip.

The final chance belonged to Woods, who needed a birdie over his final three holes to force a playoff.

He did well to two-putt for par on the 244-yard 16th. His bunker shot on the 17th went over the green and made him again grind out a par, and a tee shot he thought was perfect on the 18th instead straddled the first cut and thick rough right of the fairway. Woods hit wedge that went 30 feet beyond the pin, and his birdie putt was too strong.

Last one with chance

Once again, just like at the Masters, Woods was the last player to walk off the 18th green with the trophy belonging to someone else.

“Finishing second is never fun,” Woods said after closing with a 72. “You play so hard, and it’s just disappointing.”

Furyk became the first player since Arnold Palmer in 1966-67 to be a runner-up in the U.S. Open in consecutive years. A year ago at Winged Foot, he failed to convert a 6-foot par on the final hole that left him one shot behind Geoff Ogilvy.

The big-hitting Argentine earned this one.

“I beat everybody here, not only Tiger Woods,” Cabrera said. “But I wasn’t able to beat the golf course. The golf course beat me.”

Oakmont turned into a survival test with its thick rough and scary greens, although Cabrera handled it better than anyone. Of the eight sub-par rounds all week, he had two of them, and finished at 5-over 285.

The only other Argentine to win a major was Robert de Vicenzo in the 1967 British Open at Hoylake, where he held off Jack Nicklaus with a daring 3-wood on the final hole. De Vicenzo is equally famous for signing for the wrong score a year later at the Masters, keeping him out of a playoff.

One birdie in last 32 holes

Woods, a runner-up to unheralded Zach Johnson at this year’s Masters, played the final 32 holes at Oakmont with only one birdie.

“He put a lot of pressure on Jim and I, and we didn’t get it done,” said Woods, who extended his dubious streak of never winning a major when he wasn’t leading going into the final round.

Cabrera might not have been the winner anyone expected, especially at Oakmont, which has produced U.S. Open champions of the highest caliber. But he earned his victory against the best.

Cabrera’s victory made it four straight years that an American has failed to win the U.S. Open, extending the longest drought since John McDermott was the first to win his national championship in 1911.

It was the third straight year no one broke par at the U.S. Open, the longest streak in 46 years.

Aaron Baddeley might have made the biggest blunder, and it set the tone for his day. He was in the short cut of rough to the right of the first green when he chipped toward the flag instead of the middle of the green, and it zipped by the hole and off the green. He chipped weakly to 8 feet and ran his bogey putt about 4 feet past. Two putts later, he had a triple bogey. He wound up with an 80.

Six players had at least a share of the lead at some point, but not for long.

About the only players who didn’t make any ugly errors — or many errors — were the players who ultimately contended for this title.