When British immigrants built Argentina’s railways at the end of the 19th
century, it led to the construction of a golf course near almost every
station. Among them was the famous Jockey Club, just outside Buenos Aires.
In 2001, it hosted the Open de Argentina, the only time it has been
sanctioned by the European Tour. Its winner was Angel Cabrera.
It was the first of four European Tour titles for the beefy Argentine. His
second was the 2002 Benson & Hedges International Open at the Belfry,
his third the 2005 BMW Championship at Wentworth, and his fourth that
momentous US Open at Oakmont last week. What price a fifth at Carnoustie
next month? As the big-hitter’s playing partners often complain, you
wouldn’t put it past him.
The 37-year-old is only the second Argentine to win a major title, the first
in 40 years, but it was at Carnoustie in 1999 that the tough nut with a
cracking drive first demonstrated his taste for adversity. On the course
where countryman Jose Durado was runner-up in 1931, Cabrera tied for fourth,
one stroke shy of the playoff, despite knee-high rough, finger-like fairways
and weather that had the rest of the field up in arms.
Unusually for a man who is as long off the tee as he is twitchy on the greens,
Cabrera likes it when the heat is on. He has enjoyed a top10 finish in seven
majors, and survived the cut in eight consecutive US Opens. In last year’s
Open at Royal Liver-pool, where Roberto De Vicenzo won in 1967, he was
seventh.
In Cordoba the other day Cabrera confirmed his ambition. “After the feelings I
felt on Sunday, I want more. I feel an obligation to continue growing and
winning, if possible, more majors. I enjoy difficult courses. I have an
advantage because I am not a good putter. On less complicated courses,
players are able to achieve incredible scores, which you cannot achieve if
you are bad at putting.”
His theory is an indictment of the brutal set-ups that often fail to separate
the great players from the very good ones. Cabrera was way down the stats
for putting and driving accuracy last week, but was second in distance off
the tee, on one occasion crushing his ball 397 yards down the par-five 12th.
On a course where tight landing areas and lightning-fast greens were supposed
to reward the conservative plodder, he bludgeoned his way around, scrambling
from so far down the side of the fairways that being in the semi-rough
didn’t matter. It earned him two of only eight sub-par rounds, and a
five-over total, one better than Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods. Michael
Campbell, Cabrera’s partner in the 2005 Presidents Cup, said: “The guy’s a
bull. He might be the strongest man in golf. There’s no rough he can’t
muscle the ball out of. That’s a tremendous advantage around a course like
this.”
Brought up in Villa Allende, a town of some 35,000 people at the foot of the
Sierra Chicas mountains, Cabrera lived with his grandmother from the age of
two. He dropped out of elementary school, didn’t learn to read until he was
older, and at the age of 10, turned up in his bare feet to caddie at Cordoba
Golf Club. It was only when sponsors rented him a more comfortable home that
he learnt how to work basic household appliances.
He was also burdened last week by his reputation for choking. Last year’s Open
and this year’s BMW Championship are the most recent examples of final-round
frailties that have cost him dear. The putter, they say, fuels doubt and
frustration in a man whose temper has let him down in the past. “Watch out
for him now,” says his caddie, Eddie Gardino. “This will give him a lot of
confidence, which is all he ever needed.”
Cabrera, winner of 11 other titles, all of them in South America, is entering
a brave new world. When he returns to Europe, possibly not until next
month’s Barclays Scottish Open, he will find that everybody wants a piece of
him. “I don’t consider myself a star, but surely I will be noticed a little
bit more,” he says. “I have been playing in Europe for 11 seasons. I won
twice in England, but now I have won a major. I am no longer a regular
player. There are great players who have never won a major.”
Fame will not sit easily on those broad shoulders. The Duck, as he is known on
account of his waddling walk, is a private man proud of his origins who
prefers to speak in his native tongue. That he has neglected to improve his
English is said to reflect either the impatience that sometimes affects his
golf, or a reluctance to play the media game. Unlike Campbell, the 2005 US
Open champion, he will not be appearing on the Late Show with David
Letterman. “He speaks English better than he lets on, and I wish he would
always speak it so fans could get to know him,” says the New Zea-lander.
“But he’s not very confident with it in public settings.”
Cabrera finds himself at a crossroads: free of the pressure to prove himself,
but weighed down by expectation and celebrity. Who knows where he will go
from here, and how he will deal with it? While the Yankee dollar will
appeal, he has struggled there before, lost without the familiar faces of
the European Tour. He likes to rely only on what and who he knows. The
shorter his answers, the less scope there is for error. His dietary
requirements are Argentine steak, Fernet Blanca and eight cigarettes per
round. His practice is limited, and with no formal tuition, he trusts
instinct more than mechanics. He has no coach, no psychologist, just his
caddie, and his manager, Manuel Tagle, a lifelong friend whose father was
president at Cordoba Golf Club when Cabrera was growing up.
He is his own man, and in Cordoba last week, he was among his own people. On
Wednesday, 150 caddies threw a party in his honour. The day before, draped
in the national flag and joined by his two sons, he was escorted from the
airport by a motorcade of more than 100 vehicles. Schools, shops and
restaurants closed to mark the occasion. “I hope my triumph serves as a
motivation for golf in Argentina,” he said. “I want the players to know they
can win, that they have a chance. It was a triumph for Argentine golf.”
Since the European Tour began in 1972, nine Argentine players have won a
combined total of 25 titles. Eduardo Romero has triumphed in eight, Cabrera
and Vicente Fernandez in four each. Only 12 nations have produced more
winners.
In Argentina, almost all the courses are private, leaving little opportunity
for beginners. And of those who do gain access, usually by becoming a
caddie, even the best are hard pushed to fulfil their ambitions. The
promised land is a long way from home, where families tend to be close, and
finances tight. The language barrier does nothing to alleviate loneliness.
Down the years, Cabrera has had Romero, his Cordoba clubmate, to thank for
emotional and financial support.
Slowly, opportunity is increasing. The Argentine Golf Association has acquired
public facilities in Buenos Aires, and more clubs are opening their doors,
if only for economic reasons.
Cabrera is Latin America’s Tiger Woods, an inspiration to the disenfranchised.
While he hasn’t won nearly so many tournaments as De Vicenzo, he can be more
influential. “The difference is many more saw it on television,” says De
Vicenzo, now 84. “Millions saw Cabrera win.”
Among them was Andres Romero, in a Buenos Aires departure lounge. The
26-year-old, who partnered Cabrera at the World Cup, has been inspired at
this week’s BMW International Open in Munich, where he was three off the
lead at the halfway stage. “It gave me gooseflesh knowing that what he was
about to achieve would never be forgotten. I was so happy I had to hold back
the tears. It has lifted all Argentine golfers. His win changes things for
all of us.”
Cabrera: from rags to riches
— The US Open was the 37-year-old Argentine’s fi rst American win
— He has won three times on the European Tour — the 2001 Open de
Argentina (a European Tour event for that year only), 2002 B&H
International Open, 2005 PGA Championship
— He is known as The Duck because of the way he walks
— Cabrera was born into poverty in Cordoba, Argentina. He worked
as a caddie at the home club of Eduardo Romero who became his mentor and
paid for his trips to qualifying school
— His first three visits were unsuccessful, but in 1995, right, he
qualified for the European Tour
— He is the second golfer from Argentina to win a major. Roberto
de Vicenzo triumphed in The Open at Hoylake in 1967
— His caddie Eddie Gardino took part in the Golf Channel’s Big
Break series
— During this year’s PGA Championship at Wentworth, he topped a
drive 50 yards
