Cabrera edges Woods, Furyk for U.S. Open title

OAKMONT, Pa. -- Unlikely champion. Familiar scenario.

Angel Cabrera hit all the right shots to hold off Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk by a stroke on a Sunday of survival at the U.S. Open, shooting a 1-under-par 69 at brutal Oakmont and giving Argentina its first major championship in 40 years.

And for the second straight major, Woods played in the final group and couldn't deliver in the clutch.

Woods squandered birdie chances with his wedge and his putter, and Furyk paid for a risky choice of driver on the 306-yard 17th hole and fell out of the lead with a bogey.

That left Cabrera as the winner, and yes, he signed for the right score.

The only other Argentine to win a major was Roberto de Vicenzo in the 1967 British Open at Hoylake. He was equally famous for signing for the wrong score a year later at the Masters, keeping him out of a playoff.

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

Cabrera made his share of mistakes - everyone did on this brutally tough course outside Pittsburgh - but he overcame late bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes with a perfect tee shot and a par that gave him the victory.

Angel Cabrera made five birdies in the final round. (Getty Images)

Even so, this major will be remembered for gaffes by the guys chasing him.

Woods, a runner-up to unheralded Zach Johnson at the Masters, played the final 32 holes at Oakmont with only one birdie. He missed a birdie putt from 6 feet on the 13th, and the only clutch putts he made on the back nine were for par.

"He put a lot of pressure on Jim and I, and we didn't get it done," said Woods, who closed with a 72 and extended his dubious streak of never winning a major when he wasn't leading going into the final round.

Furyk, the 2003 U.S. Open champion who grew up in western Pennsylvania, ran off three straight birdies on the back nine and was tied for the lead when he opted to hit driver on the 17th, where the tees were moved up. He hit so far and enough left that he had no angle to the pin, and the lie was so deep that he didn't even reach the green. His 8-foot par putt caught the lip and spun away.

Needing birdie on the final hole, Furyk dropped the club after contact, and his long putt never had a chance.