It is just as well Angel Cabrera doesn’t worry too much about anything.
The big Argentine could have been forgiven for fretting that he had missed his chance to add the 2009 Masters Tournament to his 2007 US Open Championship title as he looked at the leaderboard on the 16th green during the final round last year.
It was there for all to see: Perry -14; Cabrera -12; Campbell -12. However, parring his last two holes was sufficient for the man from Cordoba to salvage a play off as Kenny Perry finished bogey-bogey. It was a play-off which would eventually see Cabrera secure Argentina’s first Masters victory.
Naturally, he had to rely upon that wonderfully fearless attitude on a couple of other occasions in the play-off, especially when he pushed his drive at the first extra hole into the trees. A sideways pitch, that nicked a tree on the way out, left Cabrera needing to get up and down on the 18th hole from over 100 yards.
And so the fearlessness kicked in. With one confident swing of the sand wedge, Cabrera planted his ball six feet from the hole and watched Campbell make bogey from the right-hand bunker. Perry got down in two, leaving Cabrera a six foot putt to stay alive, which he slipped into the hole with consummate ease.
With Campbell eliminated, Cabrera and Perry moved over to the tenth to decide the champion. Cabrera found the front of the green with his approach, with Perry off the green to the left. The American’s chip, severely affected by a clump of mud on his ball kicked 15 left of the hole and he missed his par putt, leaving Cabrera two putts for the title. The Argentine made no mistake as he calmly two-putted his way into history.
“Winning The Masters is something every player wants to achieve – it is as good as it gets,” said Cabrera. “When they put the Green Jacket on I had goose bumps....I can't even explain what was going through my body.”
