OAKMONT, Pa. -- The details had been taken care of.
He had delivered the winning ball to Angel Cabrera's manager, and in keeping with a long-held custom, had removed the flag from the pin in the 18th hole, rolled it up and tucked it away in his pocket.
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| Angel Cabrera was the only player to shoot two sub-par rounds. (Getty Images) |
"I need to pee, badly," he said as he ran away.
Pressure never bothered his boss.
The 37-year-old from Argentina played the round of his life with a 1-under 69, holding off last-ditch threats by former Open champions Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk, to win the title by a shot at 5 over on Sunday.
Though he held off the No. 1 player in the world in Woods and whipped an area product in Furyk, as Cabrera walked over a large scaffold to take part in the championship ceremony, the Pittsburgh fans began chanting his name. He stopped dead in his tracks to savor the moment. Looking regal, if not nearly papal, as he stood on the elevated metal platform, he doffed his cap and waved, like a veritable El Presidente.
Cabrera's nickname might be El Pato, the Spanish term for duck, but he soared with the eagles this week. Cabrera was the lone player in the field to break par twice -- there were only six other scores in the 60s all week -- and was far and away the most consistent man on the course Sunday.
"Angel played a wonderful round of golf and put a lot of pressure on Jim and I, and we just didn't get it done," said Woods, a runner-up for the second major in succession, who was joined by Furyk at 6 over.
Six different players held at least a share of the lead at some point Sunday, including the far-more decorated Woods and Furyk, but the three-time European Tour winner flat wore them out with the most unshakable performance of his life. Occasionally puffing away on a cigarette as he toured the Oakmont penal colony, he birdied the 15th hole to take a three-shot lead with as many holes remaining, then hung on for dear life as Furyk and Woods finished behind him.
"There are some players who have psychologists," Cabrera said through his manager. "I smoke."
He was on fire, to be sure. Having dodged the collective firepower of Woods and Furyk as both failed to make birdies on the teeny 17th, a 306-yard par 4, Cabrera never let the championship trophy out of his sight. He said it was going "with me in my bed. This is going to sleep with me."
He put a sleeper hold on the field before bogeys on Nos. 16-17 gave Woods and Furyk a glimmer of hope. Furyk, who was four back with six to play, reeled off birdies on Nos. 13-15 and actually was tied for the lead as he stood on the 17th tee, which is where his chance of a second Open title derailed.
