October 14, 2007
HSBC World Matchplay Championship
October 13, 2007
HSBC World Matchplay Championship
October 11, 2007
HSBC World Matchplay Championship
September 30, 2007
President's Cup
September 28, 2007
President's Cup
September 27, 2007
President's Cup
September 27, 2007
President's Cup
September 26, 2007
President's Cup
Ángel Leopoldo Cabrera (born September 12, 1969) is
an Argentine professional golfer who plays mainly on
the European Tour. Known affectionately as "El Pato"
Cabrera (The duck), he is the 2007 U.S. Open
champion.
Cabrera was born in Villa Allende, Córdoba,
Argentina. He worked as a caddie at the home club of
internationally successful Argentine professional
Eduardo Romero, who became his mentor. Cabrera
turned professional at the age of twenty. His first
three visits to the European Tour Qualifying School
were unsuccessful, but on his fourth trip in 1995,
made with Romero's financial assistance, he
qualified for membership of the European Tour in
1996. He retained his card comfortably in his first
three seasons and improved substantially to tenth on
the Order of Merit in 1999. He has since finished in
the top 15 of the Order of Merit on seven occasions,
with a best placing of fifth in 2005.
Cabrera's first two professional wins came in Latin
America in 1995 and his first European Tour win was
the 2001 Argentine Open, which was sanctioned by the
European Tour on a one off basis that year. In 2005
he won the BMW Championship, which is the most
prestigious event on the European Tour schedule
outside of the majors and the World Golf
Championships. However it was only his third
European Tour win, a tally which was perhaps a
little disappointing given his consistent form on
the tour. At that point he had also won seven
non-European Tour events in Latin America, where the
standard of play is much lower than on the European
Tour. Cabrera featured a highest of 9th in the
Official World Golf Rankings on October 2, 2005. He
has been the top ranked Latin American player for
some time.
Cabrera earned enough money ($623,504) on the PGA
Tour in 2006 playing as a non-member to earn a tour
card for 2007.
Cabrera won his first major championship at the 2007
U.S. Open at Oakmont near Pittsburgh. He finished
the tournament at 5-over, topping Tiger Woods and
Jim Furyk by one stroke. Cabrera entered the third
round as the leader at even par, after finishing the
first round at 1-under, and shooting 1-over on the
second day. He struggled during the third round,
finishing 6 strokes over par, putting him 4 strokes
behind the leader and two behind Woods. Cabrera
rebounded and came back strong on the last day. He
birdied one of the longest par-3 holes in major
championship history when he sunk a 20 foot at the
8th hole, which played at a lengthy 300 yards on
Sunday. Cabrera finished one stroke under par,
bringing him down to 5-over (285) for the
championship, just enough to secure his first career
major victory. At a post-match interview Cabrera
said "Well, there are some players that have
psychologists, some have sports psychologists, I
smoke."
Cabrera became the first Argentine player to win the
U.S. Open and the second to win a major, joining
Roberto De Vicenzo, who won the British Open in 1967
at Royal Liverpool (Hoylake). While Cabrera held off
Woods and Furyk, De Vicenzo impressively held off
Jack Nicklaus, who finished second to De Vicenzo 40
years before Cabrera's win.
A photo gallery from GOLF magazine of Cabrera's
winning moves is linked here.
He went on to receive the 2007 Olimpia de Oro
("Golden Olympia") as Argentina's sportsperson of
the year.
