World No 19

It may be pushing it to say that Ángel Cabrera’s US Open triumph this year put him on the same footing as Diego Maradona in Argentina, but not by much. Nicknamed El Pato - The Duck - in honour of his waddling walking style, Cabrera became the first Argentinian to win a major title since Roberto de Vicenzo won the Open in 1967.

Cabrera’s win at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was greeted with huge delight from his fellow golfers. Having worked as a caddie in his home town of Córdoba, Cabrera had plenty of talent, but coming from a poor family, he was unable to play professionally. That is when Eduardo Romero, another famous Argentine player, stepped in, paying Cabrera’s expenses to fly to Europe and compete at the qualifying school in 1995.

His investment paid off because Cabrera qualified and established himself on the PGA European Tour. Over the next few years, however, he was labelled an underachiever, with a weakness over short putts often taking him out of contention. He won only three times in Europe going into 2007, but the criticisms of his mental strength were forgotten when he held off Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk to lift the US Open trophy, prompting ecstatic celebrations at home.

“Cabrera is now a hero in Argentina,” De Vicenzo, 84, said at the time. “He’s my hero because I didn’t want to leave this world before I saw something like this.”

What made Cabrera’s victory more enjoyable is the manner in which he played. Quiet and unassuming from a distance, he is an aggressive, attacking player who hits the ball a country mile. As a youngster he struggled to hide a fiery temper that resulted in many a club being broken in two. To overcome his nerves, Cabrera gets through numerous cigarettes during each round.

If there is one course that suits him, it has to be Wentworth, where his length makes the long par-fives more than manageable. He won the BMW Championship there in 2005 and boasts a further four top-six finishes, so although his best effort in the World Match Play is a semi-final in 2005, his newfound confidence will make him a big threat.

Factfile

Age: 37 Nationality: Argentinian Wins: 15 Major wins: 1 (US Open, 2007) Major record in 2007: Masters: tied-37th; US Open: winner; Open: 34th; US PGA: missed cut How he qualified for World Match Play: Fourth on Major Championship ranking Previous WMP experience: three times