Ángel Cabrera
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | September 12, 1969 Córdoba, Argentina |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in |
| Weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| Nationality |  Argentina |
| Residence | Córdoba, Argentina |
| College | None |
| Career | |
| Turned Pro | 1989 |
| Current tour | European Tour (joined 1996) PGA Tour (joined 2007) |
| Professional wins | 18 (European Tour: 4; PGA Tour: 1 (also in European Tour tally); Other: 14) |
| Best Results in Major Championships Wins: 1 |
|
| Masters | T8: 2006 |
| U.S. Open | Won 2007 |
| British Open | T4: 1999 |
| PGA Championship | T19: 2000 |
Ángel Leopoldo Cabrera (pronounced /ˈɑnhɛl kəˈbrɛrə/ in English[1]) (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.
Contents |
[edit] Career
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[2][3] 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.
[edit] Major winner
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 sportologists, I smoke."[4]
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.[1]
He went on to receive the 2007 Olimpia de Oro ("Golden Olympia") as Argentina's sportsperson of the year.[5]
[edit] Professional wins (18)
[edit] European Tour wins (4)
- 2001 (1) Open de Argentina (which was a European Tour event for that year only)
- 2002 (1) Benson & Hedges International Open
- 2005 (1) BMW Championship
- 2007 (1) U.S. Open
Major championship is shown in bold.
[edit] PGA Tour wins (1)
- 2007 (1) U.S. Open
[edit] Tour de las Americas wins (6)
- 2001 (1) Torneo de Maestros Telefonica (Argentina)
- 2002 (1) Abierto de Argentina
- 2004 (1) Abierto del Sur (Argentina)
- 2005 (1) Torneo de Maestros Personal
- 2006 (1) Abierto del Centro
- 2007 (1) 76 Abierto Visa del Centro
[edit] Other wins (8)
- 1995 (2) Paraguay Open, Colombian Open
- 1996 (1) Volvo Masters of Latin America
- 2002 (1) Argentine PGA Championship (tied with Gustavo Rojas)
- 2005 (2) Abierto Del Centro, Abierto Del Norte
- 2007 (2) PGA Grand Slam of Golf (unofficial money PGA Tour-sanctioned event), Barclays Singapore Open (Asian Tour)
[edit] Major championships
[edit] Wins (1)
| Year | Championship | 54 Holes | Winning Score | Margin | Runners Up |
| 2007 | U.S. Open | 4 shot deficit | +5 (69-71-76-69=285) | 1 stroke |  Jim Furyk, Tiger Woods |
[edit] Results timeline
| Tournament | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | T51 | DNP | T4 |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | T41 |
| Tournament | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | CUT | T10 | T9 | T15 | CUT | CUT | T8 | T37 | T25 |
| U.S. Open | T37 | T7 | T66 | T35 | 16 | T33 | T26 | 1 | |
| The Open Championship | CUT | CUT | CUT | T22 | DNP | CUT | 7 | 34 | |
| PGA Championship | T19 | T37 | T48 | T45 | CUT | DNP | CUT | CUT |
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
[edit] Team appearances
- Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Argentina): 1997, 1998, 2000
- World Cup (representing Argentina): 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
- Presidents Cup (International Team): 2005, 2007
[edit] References
- ^ See inogolo:Pronunciation of Angel Cabrera.
- ^ Official World Golf Ranking - October 2, 2005
- ^ 69 Players Who Have Reached The Top-10 In World Ranking
- ^ Cabrera disbelief at US Open win, bbc.co.uk, 18 June, 2007.
- ^ "Cabrera named Argentine Sportsperson of the Year", European Tour, 2008-01-03. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Profile on the European Tour's official site
- Profile on the PGA Tour's official site
- Results in ranking events for the last two years from the Official World Golf Ranking site
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Germán Chiaraviglio |
Olimpia de Oro 2007 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
