Angel Cabrera -- Masters Champion Angel Cabrera -- Masters Champion PGA Grand Slam of Golf Appearances: 2007, '09 Major Championship Wins: 2007 U.S. Open, 2009 Masters Worldwide Victories: 19 Family: Wife, Silvia; Children: Federico (6/5/89), Angel (3/10/91) Special Interests: Soccer Turned Professional: 1989 By Bob Denney, The PGA of America Now that Angel Cabrera has officially erased the 41-year disappointment of any Argentine winning a Masters, a bizarre chapter is finally put to rest. Following the legacy of beloved fellow countryman Roberto De Vicenzo, Cabrera is now a two-time major champion and South America's newest heralded sportsman. The man nicknamed El Pato ("The Duck") has emerged as perhaps the best "grinder" in major championship golf in many years. In 2007, he survived rugged Oakmont to win the U.S. Open and then last April outlasted Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell to win a three-way playoff at the Masters.

The first South American to capture the Green Jacket, Cabrera held on with uncanny putting and clutch shotmaking while all those around him were crumbling. Cabrera has found a way to bottle his emotions and harness the vital inner strength that De Vicenzo finds indispensable in golf. Two years ago, Cabrera became the only player in the history of Argentina golf to earn a top-10 spot in the Official World Ranking. This year, he was ranked 69th before his trip to Augusta National. It was once said that the golf ball doesn't know how old you are. In Cabrera's case, the ball also doesn't know or care how you are ranked. But can he play? By his Augusta heroics, Cabrera added yet another rung to his growing résumé. He joins Gary Player as the only foreign-born players to win the Masters and the U.S. Open. "When they put the green jacket on, I had goose bumps," says Cabrera. "I was shaking. I can't even explain what was going through my body." De Vicenzo, the winner of the 1967 British Open, once gave this observation of Cabrera's game. "He seems to make the big mistake.

He has to make what he has inside stronger." Now, in the heat of the final stretch of a major championship, it is Cabrera who has found the inner strength and made the most of his "breaks." On Sunday, with the light fading at Augusta National, Cabrera made a "big break" pay dividends. His approach shot on the 18th hole caromed off a tree and back to the center of the fairway. From 70 yards, he converted one of the most memorable up and downs in major championship history that earned him a berth into a three-way playoff. He followed that with a par at 18 to open the playoff and continued to the 10th tee. A short time later, he made a routine par to pass Perry, who bogeyed after missing the green to the left. The Masters was in Cabrera's pocket. Cabrera's climb to the upper echelon of golf began in his hardscrabble youth, having been raised since he was 3 years old by his paternal grandmother. His boyhood home was on a quiet dirt road in Mendiolaza, a barrio near Cordoba, Argentina.

When he was 10 years old, Cabrera found his life's vocation. Just 10 blocks uphill from his grandmother's home was Cordoba Country Club. He began caddying, making 25 pesos per loop, which translates today to nearly two dollars. It was a wage that sustained him. He dropped out of school in the sixth grade to caddie full-time. "I was very lucky because hanging out at a golf course was much better than being on the streets," says Cabrera. "Golf taught me a great deal. I grew up surrounded by people who were professionals -- lawyers, doctors, engineers. Around them I learned how to behave, speak, eat, and dress. I had nothing at home. The club was my home." Every Monday, when the club closed, the caddies took over and had their own competitions. This is when Cabrera learned to play golf. His talent grew steadily, as did his fierce competitiveness and ingrained penchant to work relentlessly to achieve success. Cordoba Country Club members financed Cabrera's debut into competitive golf, and at age 19 he turned professional. The first dividends began with victories in the 1995 Paraguay and Colombia Opens.

In 1999, Cabrera joined the European Tour and won his first title on the circuit with the 2001 Argentina Open and added two more Tour titles. His golf stature as a ball-striker grew, and there were the noted near-misses in major championships. He finished one stroke out of the 1999 British Open playoff at Carnoustie. He held the lead during the second and third rounds of the 2001 Masters, and he led the 2004 U.S. Open. He grew from those experiences and applied the lessons to make major impacts at Oakmont and then at Augusta National. As he became more successful, Cabrera gave back to those less fortunate -- youth whose lives resembled his. Cabrera supported the youth at the club that continues to be his home away from home. He has helped caddies who have fallen on hard times and paid the medical bills of a caddie's sick child. He joined his longtime friend and mentor, Champions Tour star Eduardo Romero, to help fund a new caddie shack. His passion to excel at his own game carries over into his drive to elevate the next generation of Argentine golfers.

He has lobbied the provincial government to aid in access for junior golfers; has sponsored a group of youths; and has donated to build a facility for disabled children in Villa Allende. A man of few words, Cabrera's actions speak volumes. Angel Cabrera Masters Record - Angel Cabrera Net Worth Angel Cabrera Masters Record Read more... Angel Cabrera Angel Cabrera Net Worth is $15 Million. Angel Cabrera is Golfer. Angel Cabrera Date of Birth is 1969-09-12. Angel Cabrera Nickname is El Pato, Ping?ino Cabrera, El ornitorrinco de C?rdoba. Angel Cabrera Height is 1.85 m. Angel Cabrera Weight is 120. Angel Cabrera Country is C?rdo... Angel Cabrera Net Worth is $15 Million. Angel Cabrera Net Worth is $15 Million. Angel Cabrera is Golfer. Angel Cabrera Date of Birth is 1969-09-12. Angel Cabrera Nickname is El Pato, Ping?ino Cabrera, El ornitorrinco de C?rdoba.

Angel Cabrera Height is 1.85 m. Angel Cabrera Weight is 120. Angel Cabrera Country is C?rdoba. ??ngel Cabrera is an Argentine professional golfer who plays on both the European Tour and PGA Tour. He is known affectionately as "El Pato" in Spanish or in English as "The Duck" for his waddling gait. He is a two-time major champion, having won the 2007 U.S. Open and the 2009 Masters, in each becoming the first Argentine to win either tournament. He also lost in a sudden death playoff at the 2013 Masters. Cabrera was born in C??rdoba, Argentina. His father, Miguel, was a handyman, and his mother worked as a maid. ??ngel was three or four when his parents split up. He was left in the care of his paternal grandmother. He stayed with her until he was 16, when he moved in a few feet away, to the house of Silvia, twelve years his senior, and a mother of four boys. They had a son, Federico, followed by another, ??ngel.

??ngel and Silvia have never been formally married, they are officially separated. He is now dat... Cabrera got close, but not close enough Posted: 03/09/14 If you thought that his superlative play and a green jacket already hanging in his locker was consolation enough for Angel Cabrera after a playoff loss at last year’s Masters Tournament, you would be grossly mistaken. The two-time major ... 2013 Masters featured plenty of firsts Posted: 03/05/14 The 2013 Masters Tournament was filled with firsts – headed by Adam Scott becoming the first Australian to don the green jacket. Scott birdied two of his final four holes in regulation for 3-under-par 69 and beat 2009 winner Angel ... Scott bounces back to win first major Posted: 04/15/13 An imperfect Masters Tournament had the perfect finish. Counter-punching with one clutch shot after another starting on the 18th hole in regulation, Adam Scott seized the green jacket from Angel Cabrera on the second playoff hole with a 15-foot birdie ...

Cabrera in position for second Masters title Posted: 04/14/13 With a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 18, two-time major champion Angel Cabrera put himself in a position to win a third. He started the day two shots off the lead but finished Saturday’s third round tied for the ... Zach Johnson needs an equalizer Posted: 04/05/13 With the exception of Phil Mickelson, there’s only one Masters Tournament champion since 2007 who has won a PGA Tour event following his Augusta win – and he’s won seven of them. That would be Zach Johnson, the 2007 ... Cabrera calls on his experience Posted: 04/10/11 Augusta National tends to shake the cobwebs off its champions, yet even Angel Cabrera didn't think he'd be one to rise to the top. The 2009 Masters winner barely made the cut in his title defense last year. With his length and comfort around Augusta, though, the Argentinian perked up at just the right time after relatively quiet rounds of 71 and 70.

Watching Cabrera win fuels hopes for the week Posted: 04/04/11 One of the surprise success stories of 2011, Jhonattan (pronounced Jonathan) Vegas is the first golfer from Venezuela to compete in the Masters Tournament. Jhonny Vegas will share his rookie Masters experience in a diary with The Augusta Chronicle: Title defense never easy Posted: 04/01/11 Angel Cabrera is not easily intimidated, but the 2009 Masters Tournament champion admits that defending his title in front of the world was a challenge to his Latin bravado. Cabrera, Perry don't repeat drama Posted: 04/12/10 The patrons standing on the first tee Sunday around 1 p.m. might have experienced a feeling of deja vu when they saw Angel Cabrera and Kenny Perry paired for the final round, but if Cabrera and Perry felt any such sensation, Cabrera wasn't letting on. Cabrera's birdie saves day for defending champion Posted: 04/10/10 Angel Cabrera already thought it was over.

His bending 18-footer for birdie on the 18th hole seemed like small consolation for a title defense gone awry. Cabrera visits scenes of glory with son Posted: 04/07/10 It's been 51 weeks since Angel Cabrera drove out Magnolia Lane with his green jacket, but it was another magnolia the Argentine was eager to see again. Cabrera glad to be back at Augusta Posted: 04/06/10 It's been 51 weeks since Angel Cabrera drove out Magnolia Lane with his green jacket, but it was another magnolia the Argentine was eager to see again. Cabrera excited to serve Argentine barbecue feast Posted: 04/06/10 Angel Cabrera is looking forward to the most celebrated ritual of any reigning Masters Tournament winner: the Champions Dinner. The looper Posted: 04/02/10 The Almacen El Condor, a restaurant in Angel Cabrera's native Villa Allende, Argentina, is where the Masters Tournament champion reconnects with the world that molded him into the person and the golfer he is.

Work paid off as pressure built Posted: 04/02/10 VILLA ALLENDE, Argentina — In his defense, Angel Cabrera wasn't ready. A year after he had stunned everyone by beating Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk down the stretch at the 2007 U.S. Open, Cabrera was struggling in the spotlight of his title defense at Torrey Pines. Cabrera, coach grow inseparable thanks to common bond Posted: 04/02/10 Charlie Epps, the director of the golf academy at the Houstonian Golf & Country Club, became the missing piece in Cabrera's success story just a month before his 2007 U.S. Open breakthrough. Tennis champion edges out Cabrera for honor Posted: 04/02/10 The Golden Olimpia is awarded annually to the most important Argentine sports figure of the year. U.S. Open tennis champion Juan Martin del Potro edged out soccer superstar Lionel Messi and Masters Tournament champion Angel Cabrera to win the coveted award for 2009.

Golf club sees future in nurturing its caddies Posted: 04/02/10 VILLA ALLENDE, Argentina — Glen Garden Country Club in Texas, is world renowned for its caddie yard, which produced Hall of Famers Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson. The closest any club in the world has come to producing such accomplished talent since is Córdoba Golf Club in Argentina. Following in father's footsteps is a matter of course Posted: 04/02/10 TIGRE, Argentina — They were scattered across the course at the Argentine Open, connected by blood yet separated by only a few holes on the tee sheet. Angel Cabrera competed in his home country's national open in December with both of his sons, Federico and Angel Jr.

2009: Angel Cabrera avenges De Vicenzo's Masters loss | Masters 2009: Angel Cabrera avenges De Vicenzo's Masters loss March 24, 2012 - 8:02 pm Back Photo: 1 of 2 Next Front Page of The Augusta Chronicle after the 2009 Masters Tournament Back Photo: 2 of 2 Next 2009 Masters By David Westin | Staff Writer High drama in the pines returned to the Masters Tournament on Sunday. Boy, did it ever. In a final round that had more twists and turns than the past three Masters combined, Argentina's Angel Cabrera outlasted 48-year-old Kenny Perry, winning the 73rd Masters on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. It came after Kentucky's Perry bogeyed the final two holes of regulation and Cabrera parred them. Texan Chad Campbell, 34, also tied for the lead after regulation, but bowed out with a bogey on the first playoff hole. Speaking through a translator, Cabrera said the Masters victory is "something every player would want to have.

It's the end of the world." Cabrera, who is also the 2007 U.S. Open champion, closed with 1-under-par 71 to finish at 12-under 276, as did Perry (71) and Campbell (69). It was the first playoff for the 39-year-old Cabrera, who lives in Cordoba, Argentina. He became the 15th player to win the Masters on Easter Sunday. "When they put the green jacket on, I had goose bumps," Cabrera said. "I can't even explain what was going through my body." Perry, a 13-time PGA Tour winner, is 3-3 in playoffs now, and Campbell, a four-time PGA Tour winner, has lost in both of his playoff appearances. Had Cabrera shot a final round in the 60s, he would have been the first player in Masters history to do it in all four rounds. He opened with 68-68-69, and is the rare Masters champion not to finish in the top 10 in the three major statistical categories.

He was 11th in driving (284.5 yards), tied for 12th in putting (113 putts) and tied for 14th in greens in regulation (50 of 72). Japan's Shingo Katayama birdied the 18th hole to finish fourth at 278. Phil Mickelson, who tied a Masters record with 6-under-par 30 on the front nine to pull within one shot of Perry, shot 37 on the back nine for 67 to finish fifth, three shots out of the playoff. Tiger Woods, who played with Mickelson, bogeyed his final two holes for 68 and tied for sixth place with John Merrick (66), Steve Flesch (67) and Steve Stricker (71), four out of the playoff. Cabrera becomes the first South American to win the Masters. It comes 41 years after fellow Argentine Roberto De Vicenzo signed an incorrect scorecard that cost him a chance to go to an 18-hole playoff with 1968 Masters champion Bob Goalby. "First, De Vicenzo had bad luck.

He had a bad moment," Cabrera said. "It's not going to change what happened to him. This win, to take back to Argentina, it's going to help a lot with our game." Cabrera started the day tied with Perry and led after three holes. Cabrera bogeyed Nos. 4 and 5 to fall one back, and trailed by three after Perry made birdie on No. 12. Cabrera then played his final six holes in 3-under. "You have to hand it him," Perry said. "He was fighting just as hard as I was out there." It was a heartbreaking loss for Perry, 48, who was hoping to eclipse 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus as the oldest Masters champion. He would also have passed 1968 PGA Championship winner Julius Boros as the oldest major championship winner. "I played beautifully today until 17," Perry said. "I was in control; I hit great shots. I'm not going to hang my head in this deal. I fought hard out there. I was nervous, but I was proud of the way I hung in there. "I may not ever get this opportunity again, but I had a lot of fun being in there.

It was blast for me to get in there and fight with them. I just didn't get it done today. I had the tournament to win. I lost the tournament." Perry said the shot he'd take back if he could would be the first putt on the par-5 13th, which he three-putted for par after a poor first putt. Had he made birdie there, he would have had a three-shot lead. It was the first Masters playoff since 2005, and the longest since 1990, when Nick Faldo also won on the second hole, which was No. 11. In 2004, Augusta National changed the format to begin playoffs on the 18th and then alternate the hole with the 10th. After Campbell was put aside after the first playoff hole, Cabrera and Perry then headed down No. 10, where Perry hit his approach left of the green. "There was mud on the right side of my ball," Perry said. "I told my caddie, 'It's going left, I hope it doesn't go too far left.' " It did.

The shot ended up in the same area Len Mattiace visited when he lost a 2003 playoff on that hole to Mike Weir. It was "advantage Cabrera" after he hit his approach on the front of the green. "As we were walking down the fairway, he said, 'I think we've got a good chance to win now,' " said Cabrera's caddie, Ruben Yorio. Perry chipped 15 feet past the hole, then knocked his par putt three feet past. He never putted again as Cabrera two-putted for the victory. On the first playoff, at No. 18, Campbell hit first and found the right side of the fairway. Cabrera went in the right woods, finishing behind a tree. Perry then split the fairway, giving him the best angle to the green. The pressure showed on the approaches. Cabrera hit a tree on the way out, but it bounded back into the fairway. "I thought I had this much room," Cabrera said, spreading his hands about a foot apart. "It was bigger than the ball.

You need luck sometimes in this game." Said Yorio, his caddie: "It was good break; it was huge." Perry came up short of the left greenside bunker, and Campbell found the bunker. Cabrera took advantage of the break, knocking his third shot to within six feet of the hole and making par to stay alive in the playoff. "He made a great up and down," Perry said. "He's in the trees, he hits it out and hits a beautiful sand wedge in there for a six-footer. " Perry then chipped to within a foot of the hole and tapped in for par. Next up was Campbell. He blasted out of the bunker to within four feet of the hole. Cabrera made his putt to tie Perry, but Campbell missed his. "I guess I left the blade open; I just missed it," Campbell said. Just as Mickelson and Woods ran out of steam at the end of their rounds, Perry followed suit. He had made only four bogeys in 70 holes before dropping shots on each of the last two. Augusta National wanted to bring excitement back into the tournament's final round, and did so by moving up tees on 12 of the holes and making pins accessible.

It also helped that the weather cooperated. The setup and weather helped Mickelson strike for front-nine birdies on Nos. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8. He saved par from a bunker on No. 9 to tie the front nine course record with 6-under 30. Walking down the 10th fairway, Mickelson trailed Perry by a shot and was tied for second place with Campbell and Cabrera. But his round turned when he dunked his tee shot into Rae's Creek on No. 12, leading to a double bogey. "That was really a terrible swing, to miss it by so far from where I was aiming, after hitting so many great iron shots," Mickelson said. Three holes later, Mickelson had a chance to tie for the lead, but missed his four-foot eagle putt on No. 15. He made birdie, leaving him one shot behind Perry, but didn't make another one. "I didn't make any putts after I put it in the water," he said.

Related Links Angel Cabrera wins the Masters | Toronto Star Golf Angel Cabrera wins the Masters Angel Cabrera has a new way to win a major golf championship: Hit two trees on your first playoff hole and wait for everybody else to mess up. Angel Cabrera of Argentina reacts after making par on the 18th hole during the final round of the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., April 12, 2009. (MORRY GASH / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS) By Dave Perkins Sports Columnist Sun., April 12, 2009 AUGUSTA, Ga.–Angel Cabrera has a new way to win a major golf championship: Hit two trees on your first playoff hole and wait for everybody else to mess up. The likeable Argentine won his second big title by taking today's Masters with a par on the 10th hole at Augusta National when Kenny Perry, who had given away the tournament in regulation with a bogey-bogey finish, hit a poor approach shot and made bogey. Cabrera, who won the 2007 U.S.

Open at Oakmont, outside Pittsburgh, survived the first playoff hole, but Chad Campbell, the third man in the playoff, did not after missing a short putt. Cabrera drove behind a tree as the playoff began at the 18th hole. He swung mightily at his second, but banged off another tree right back to the middle of the 18th fairway. After Perry missed the green left and Campbell went into the left bunker, Cabrera wedged in to eight feet, a critical putt he made. Perry chipped down to a foot for his par and Campbell's sand splash left him four feet, which he honked. Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, starting together seven shots behind the leaders, rose to within one stroke of Perry's lead as one of the most sensationally entertaining of all Masters Sundays moved to its final stages. But Woods and Mickelson ran out of holes, simply because they started too far back. Article Continued Below Perry entered the final six holes with a one-stroke lead over Campbell and two ahead of Cabrera.

It was those three who began the day as the most serious contenders and despite the amazing intramural heavyweight fight between Mickelson and Woods, it was these three going down to the wire — and beyond. Perry began his day with 11 consecutive pars and his co-leader through 54 holes, Cabrera, was short of that, losing two strokes to par through 11. Campbell, having something of an up-and-down round through 12 holes, stayed close at 10-under, then nudged to minus-12 with birdies at 13 and 15. Perry got to 12-under with his first birdie, curling in a downhill 22-footer at No. 12. Cabrera birdied the 13th to move within one again and Perry counted the gimme birdies at 13 and 15, then hit his tee shot to a foot at the par-three 16th to open a two-shot lead. He bogeyed the 17th after a poor chip and drove into the fairway bunker at 18.

He came out with a 7-iron pulled near the left gallery and when he couldn't get up and down, the Masters had its first playoff since Woods beats Chris DiMarco in 2005 and its first three-man playoff since Larry Mize beat Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros in 1987. Perry's bogey-bogey finish put him at 71/276. Campbell shot 69 to get to 276 and Cabrera made a fine up-and-down at 18 to post 71 for the 12-under score. Mickelson set off brilliant fireworks on the front nine, equaling the record low nine-hole score, and Woods caught up to him with birdies at the 13th, 15th and 16th holes. Mickelson stumbled at the dangerous 12th hole, where his tee shot rolled back into Rae's Creek, but he rebounded with birdies at the 13th and 15th to move to 10 under, level with Woods with two holes to play.

Woods' chances evaporated when he bogyed the 17th and 18th after poor tee shots and he finish with 68 for 280. Mickelson likewise bogeyed the last hole, but carded 67 for 279. Mickelson, a two-time winner here, birdied six of his first eight holes to eat up most of the seven shots by which he trailed co-leaders Cabrera and Perry through 54 holes. Woods eagled the eighth from 30 feet, then drew even with Mickelson with some superb shot-making on the second nine. Mickelson parred the ninth spectacularly, after a drive deep into the trees and punch-out to the front bunker, to equal the Masters front-nine scoring record of 30 set by Johnny Miller in 1975 and matched by Greg Norman in 1988 and K.J. Choi in 2004. There early was promise of more brilliance available on Augusta National's second nine. Mike Weir and Kevin Sutherland, the first two players out on the course today, were a combined four-under par on the two back-side par-five holes under another day of sweet sunshine.

Weir, who shot a round of par 72 to finish at six-over 294, birdied the 13th and 15th with two putts each time, having a good look at eagle from 15 feet at the latter. Sutherland eagled the 13th hole, from about 30 feet. "Some of the par-fours are playing a little longer, but the par-fives are probably playing more scoreable,'' Weir said. "I think the longer hitters can get at some of these pins. The greens are still receptive. They're still soft enough and they're not crazy speed. That moisture took a little of the fire out of them'' In the early going, Steve Flesch holed out from the fairway for eagle at the second hole, then birdied the third to move to six-under, where he stalled. John Merrick posted a back-nine 32 to get to eight-under. Stephen Ames birdied the second, hitting a beautiful chip to a couple of inches, but bogeyed the fifth and ninth and produced a back nine of 37 for 74 and two-under 206.

"Over-all it was the first time for the week I felt comfortable on the greens,'' Ames said. "Coming down the end I think I ran out of gas. I was a bit disappointed that things weren't happening.'' Ames played one group in front of Woods and Mickelson and said he backed off shots a couple of times because of the revved-up spectators. "You mean they were normal,'' he said. Read more about: Angel Cabrera wins 2009 Masters | Golf.com Posted: Mon Apr. 20, 2009 Updated: Mon Dec. 1, 2014 Install App Early monday morning, hours after he had stolen the 73rd Masters, broken the heart of all of Kentucky, dusted Tiger and Phil, avenged an embarrassed countryman's epic screwup and cemented his own legend, Angel Cabrera was whooping it up at a rented house in a stately Augusta neighborhood. Two dozen people had turned up for the party  friends, players, caddies, friends of friends.

Already a futbol chant had rung out in the night: "Ole, ole, ole, ole, Pa-to, Pa-to!" Cabrera's nickname has long been El Pato, the Duck. For the final round, Cabrera had worn his trademark Sunday yellow shirt, which turned out to match quite nicely with a green jacket. Now, holding court at his party, the Argentine was barefoot, wearing only shorts and a T-shirt. Cabrera's appetites are like his drives  prodigious. Earlier in the evening a quaint Masters tradition had compelled him to eat a champion's dinner with the Augusta National members. Eschewing the lobster macaroni and cheese and other delicacies from the buffet, Cabrera settled on an irresistible item called the Tiger Woods Cheeseburger. The burgers were smaller than expected, so a famished Cabrera ate nine of them, washed down by gulps of red wine. Back at the house, as it neared 2 a.m., he took lusty sips of his favorite drink: Coke mixed with Fernet Branca, a bitter, aromatic spirit brewed from grapes and more than 40 herbs and spices.

Suddenly a song broke out, to the tune of Happy Birthday: "Saco verde to you/Saco verde to you." Saco verde, of course, means green jacket. At the song's end Cabrera disappeared into a bedroom and then emerged wearing a huge smile and the prized blazer, size 46 regular. Everybody screamed, and the party raged on. Cabrera's victory owed much to his brio. The closing holes of the final round were so taut, "you couldn't hardly spit," said Fred Sanders, caddie to Kenny Perry, and yet Cabrera seemed to be the only one on the course who was having fun, playing to the crowd with fist pumps and offering playful high fives to his playing partner, Perry, who didn't quite know what to make of the gesture. Before Cabrera took it away, this was supposed to be Perry's Masters, but the soft-spoken Kentuckian wanted it too much. Perry is a bighearted country boy, and he was desperate to win for his ailing mom, his hometown of Franklin (pop.

8,079), the raucous galleries that had embraced him and the loving family that had helped him unwind every night with games of cards and H-O-R-S-E. A back-nine birdie binge had put Perry two strokes up with two holes to play, but the immensity of the opportunity overwhelmed him. He skulled a chip on the 17th hole to make bogey  only his fifth bogey of the week and his first since the 12th hole on Saturday  and then played three messy shots at 18, ultimately leaving himself what every little boy dreams about until he grows up and has to face it: a 15-foot par putt to win the Masters. Behind the green, Perry's wife, Sandy, his sweetheart since the eighth grade, gathered with their three kids. Back home, the congregation at the Franklin Church of Christ was holding its evening Easter service, and more than a few prayers were muttered for a man who never fails to worship there when he's in town. Over at Country Creek Golf Course, on Kenny Perry Drive, dozens of regulars had gathered for the telecast.

Perry's 85-year-old father, Ken, still picks up the balls on the Country Creek range most every day in denim overalls, but he elected to watch TV at home with his wife, who has been waging a long battle with cancer. With so much resting on one putt, it's no wonder Perry's ball couldn't get to the hole. The fight went out of him right then and there, even though Perry had a chance for redemption in the playoff. "It didn't seem like new life," said Sanders. "He seemed a little flat." Cabrera, a powerfully built former caddie from Cordoba, is one of the heaviest hitters in the game, but he's a big man with soft hands. He further broke Perry's spirit with a spectacular par save on the first extra hole, Augusta National's 18th. After hitting his drive into the woods on the right, Cabrera got a lucky bounce when his desperate second shot ricocheted off a tree into the fairway. Cabrera then spun a wedge from 114 yards to within six feet and poured in the putt.

(Chad Campbell, a taciturn Texan, was eliminated from the playoff when he missed a short par putt on the low side after finding the right bunker with his approach.) On the second playoff hole, the par-4 10th, Perry's second shot missed wide left, and Cabrera closed him out with a textbook par. Perry, 48, had been bidding to become the oldest winner of a major, but after the crushing loss he seemed resigned to the fate of never winning the big one. His only other chance came at the 1996 PGA Championship, played in front of the home folks in Kentucky, but he made a mess of the first playoff hole in a loss to Mark Brooks that still haunts him. "Great players make it happen, and your average players don't," Perry said on Sunday night. "That's the way it is. That's why they are where they are, and we're all down here." Cabrera's triumph elevated him into rarefied air. He's now one of only 14 players to have won both the Masters and the U.S. Open.

He slipped on the green jacket 41 years after countryman Roberto de Vicenzo was denied a chance at a playoff at the Masters because he signed an incorrect scorecard, leading to his immortal statement, "What a stupid I am." Asked if his victory would ease the lingering sting of that gaffe for his country, Cabrera said, "This win, to take back to Argentina, it's going to help a lot." Cabrera, 39, is halfway to the career Grand Slam, and he may just be getting started. Mickey Wright, the LPGA Hall of Famer known for the purity of her swing and her knowledge of others', once put Cabrera on her list of the game's five best alltime ball strikers. Cabrera's action was self-taught during spirited money games among the other caddies at Cordoba Country Club, where Cabrera began looping after he dropped out of school at age 10. He grew into a ball basher who viewed putting as an inconvenience, and his hasty work on the greens betrayed a belief that it was best to get the unpleasant act over with as soon as possible.

Cabrera's putting has improved over the last two years as he experimented with long putters  he's the first player to win a major with a belly putter, though he uses it unconventionally, without anchoring it to his stomach  and committed to more practice and a consistent routine on the greens that includes spending more time examining his putts. He passed the ultimate test by draining a series of crucial putts on Masters Sunday, including a must-make 15-footer for birdie on the 16th hole after Perry had stiffed his tee shot to within a foot. "He has willed himself to become a good putter," says Charlie Epps, the Houston-based instructor who began working with Cabrera in 2007. There can be no doubting Cabrera's resolve. At the '07 U.S. Open at Oakmont, in which he nipped Tiger by a stroke, Cabrera was introduced to the world as a man of few words and many cigarettes, a living embodiment of the gauchos who populate Argentine folklore. Shortly after his U.S. Open win Cabrera quit smoking cold turkey, and it's saying something that he survived Augusta National's greens without a relapse.

(Arnold Palmer never won another major after he quit smoking in the late 1960s.) For all of his gifts, Cabrera's greatest strength may be a toughness that came from his hard-knock life. Cabrera was left by his parents at age three to live with his paternal grandmother, Pura Concepcion, in a tiny tin-roofed house on a dirt road at the edge of a garbage-strewn arroyo. He took on menial jobs to feed himself, and he survived on his wits and fists. In Cordoba there is an indigenous dance called the cuarteto, a lively, rhythmic step similar to the merengue. The cuarteto is a staple of the Cordoban social scene, and growing up, Cabrera forged quite a reputation at the dance halls. "He was always in the street fighting," says Rodolfo Monjes, a longtime caddie at Cordoba Country Club. "Usually over a girl." Three scars adorning Cabrera's face attest to his pugilistic past. No wonder, then, he wasn't the slightest bit intimidated when Woods and Phil Mickelson threw their best punches on Sunday.

The story of the first three rounds had been the return of the roars to golf's most symphonic stage as the lords of the Masters offered up more playable conditions than in recent years, nicely complementing the warm weather and mostly mild breezes. While Perry and Cabrera pushed the 54-hole lead to 11 under, Woods and Mickelson never quite got going, and both were stuck at four under through three rounds. Their matching scores gave golf fans everywhere the Sunday pairing they had been craving, even if Tiger and Phil were being sent off an hour ahead of the leaders. They hadn't tangled at a major since the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage and hadn't been paired together when it really matters since the final round of the '01 Masters, both tournaments, it should be noted, won by Woods. Their complicated relationship has been analyzed in the kind of detail usually reserved for Lindsay and Sam, but for all the digs and slights through the years, even Tiger and Phil couldn't help but get into the spirit of their Sunday showdown. "They both loved the pairing," said Mickelson's swing coach, Butch Harmon, who previously worked with Woods.

"At lunch [on Sunday] in the champions' locker room they were needling each other like crazy." Around Augusta, Tiger is revered but Phil is beloved, and Mickelson captivated the enormous crowds with a laserlike approach shot at the long par-4 5th hole. When he buried the putt (his third birdie in four holes), the crowd erupted and then bolted to the 6th tee. Tiger was left to putt a six-footer for par with a large part of the gallery having collectively turned its back on him. Woods finally showed some fight on the 570-yard 8th with two mighty blows to set up an eagle, but Mickelson answered with his sixth birdie in seven holes. After parring 9 from out of the trees  where else?  Mickelson stood within one of the lead, having tied the front-nine record with a six-under 30. (Fighting his swing throughout the round, Woods said he "Band-Aided" his way around in 33.) If you are a golf fan, you could barely breathe. But even though he was playing the golf of his life, Phil is still Phil, and eventually, inevitably, he had to make a mistake.

This one was a killer, as he pulled his tee shot on the nasty par-3 12th hole, the ball dying on the bank fronting the green and rolling back into Rae's Creek, leading to a double bogey. Mickelson was rattled enough to blow two ensuing golden opportunities: a 10-footer for birdie on 14 and a four-footer for eagle at 15. In a Masters parable of the tortoise and the hare, Woods patiently chased down Mickelson, and when Tiger stuffed his tee shot at the 16th and made birdie, the two were 10 under and tied for second, setting Augusta National on its ear. Perry still had a one-stroke lead, but he was looking shaky while laboring to 11 straight pars to open his round. (Cabrera had bogeyed 4, 5 and 10 but would get back in the game by birdieing both back-nine par-5s.) The fun didn't last much longer. Woods's and Mickelson's bids both petered out at 17, when Tiger made bogey out of the trees and Phil missed another short putt, for birdie.

Each left Augusta at a crossroads. Mickelson may have been buoyed by clipping Woods 67-68, but when the U.S. Open returns to Bethpage in June, Phil will be celebrating the dubious three-year anniversary of his self-immolation at Winged Foot. This Masters marked the first time since then that he had been a factor at a major. Mickelson turns 39 the week of the Open, and the window is closing for the onetime boy wonder. Woods, 33, will be the favorite at Bethpage, but in the meantime he is left to ponder another Masters that got away. After taking three of six from 1997 through 2002, he has won just one of the last seven. The evolution of the course into a tighter, more penal test has taken away much of his power advantage, and as he has entered his 30s he has displayed a distressing vulnerability on Augusta's treacherous greens. At least Woods and Mickelson can be confident they'll have other opportunities at Augusta. What made Perry's failure so gut-wrenching was the knowledge he may never get a chance at redemption.

Cleaning out his locker, Perry tried hard to be philosophical. "Hey, life goes on," he said, but there was little comfort in the cliche. His family was waiting in a parking lot behind the clubhouse and still seemed stunned by the day's brutal conclusion. Perry's 24-year-old daughter, Lesslye, was taking it the hardest, sitting on the ground alone, clutching a handful of tissues. A few months ago Kenny had walked Lesslye down the aisle when she married a local boy in a ceremony that attracted much of Franklin. "She's so torn up," Sandy whispered. "She keeps saying, 'This can't happen twice to him. It's not fair. He's too good a person, he's too good a father. It's just not right.'" Kenny eventually materialized, carrying his oversized golf bag and a diet soda, the strongest stuff he drinks. ("To the best of my knowledge, he has never smoked a cigarette or tasted alcohol or said a bad word," says Perry's father.) For Cabrera the revelry had already begun. Meanwhile, Perry and his family wordlessly piled into a van and drove off into a cold, dark night.

More From the Web Epps lends Masters winner Cabrera helping hand - Houston Chronicle Epps lends Masters winner Cabrera helping hand Epps lends Cabrera helping hand STEVE CAMPBELL, Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle Published 5:30 am, Monday, April 13, 2009 Photo: File Photo Close Image 1 of 1 Charlie Epps, got to know Angel Cabrera while living in the small Argentine city of Villa Allende in the 1980s. Charlie Epps, got to know Angel Cabrera while living in the small Argentine city of Villa Allende in the 1980s. Photo: File Photo Epps lends Masters winner Cabrera helping hand 1 / 1 Back to Gallery AUGUSTA, Ga. — Angel Cabrera was walking off the practice putting green at Augusta National Golf Club toward the first tee box. Cabrera shook the hand of a gray-haired man wearing a matching yellow shirt. Moments earlier, the man had taken off his cap and asked Cabrera to sign it. Houston golf instructor Charlie Epps felt Masters history in the making, and he wanted a keepsake.

As of Sunday night, the signature on Epps’ hat is that of the champion of the 73rd Masters. Asked when that hat might be up for auction online, Epps smiled. “I’ve got to keep this one,” Epps said. “I’ll get a couple more.” Cabrera undoubtedly would be happy to sign memorabilia for Epps long after writer’s cramp takes hold. Epps began working with Cabrera, a native of Argentina, in the spring of 2007. Cabrera captured the U.S. Open a couple of months later at Oakmont, Pa., and added a sudden-death Masters playoff victory over Kenny Perry and Chad Perry on Sunday. During his winner’s acceptance speech, Cabrera made it a point to thank Epps as someone who “was always with me even when things were bad.” “Charlie is a good friend,” Cabrera said. “He really helped me. He told me, if you won the U.S. Open, you can win the Masters. You can win any tournament you stand up on the first tee.” Epps grew up in Argentina and speaks fluent Spanish.

Living in the small Argentine city of Villa Allende in the 1980s, Epps got to know a talented, hot-tempered caddie out of Cordova Golf Club . In the early 1990s, Epps once declined an offer to sponsor the up-and-coming Cabrera. “I just never thought he would overcome his anger,” Epps said. “He’s matured.” Epps, the director of instruction at the Houstonian Golf & Country Club, primarily works with Cabrera on putting. The relationship clearly is more than player-instructor, though. They stayed at the same house all week, with Cabrera doing the cooking and Epps the dishes. For inspiration, Epps brought along a highlight reel he had put together of Cabrera’s Open victory at Oakmont. “He’s always telling me how many putts he doesn’t make,” Epps said. “And I tell him, ‘Hey, just watch this.’ ” At the 70th hole, Cabrera made a tricky, 10-foot, downhill curler for birdie that kept him within two strokes of the lead. On the first playoff hole, Cabrera saved par with an equally tricky 6-footer.

Cabrera hadn’t finished in the top five anywhere in the world in more than a year. Caught in the windy side of the draw the previous week at the Shell Houston Open , he missed the cut. The teacher kept insisting the pupil would be fine. “We worked,” Cabrera said, “and it’s back.”

Question: What nationality is golfer Angel Cabrera, winner of the U.S. Masters in 2009?
Answer: Argentinian