Angel Cabrera closed with a one under 69 to hold off Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk be a stroke in winning the 107th US Open at Oakmont.  Cabrera was the only golfer in the field to shoot two rounds under par, and the second  Argentinian to win a major title.  He was the golfer hitting the best shots for the entire round.

Aaron Baddeley started the day with a two stroke lead which he promptly gave away with a three putt triple bogey, from eight feet, on the first hole.  Things went downhill for the young Australian from there as he finished with a round of 80 tied for thirteenth.  Steve Stricker had a share of the lead at the turn but double bogeyed both the tenth and eleventh holes enroute to a 76 and a tie with Mr. Baddeley.  Steven Ames who was in the hunt early also faded to a 76 and a tie for tenth with Paul Casey and Justin Rose, both of whom also shot 76.

Mr. Cabrera finished before Mr. Woods and Mr. Furyk and watched on television as first Mr. Furyk gave back a stroke on the seventeenth hole when he hit driver too far and made bogey. Said Mr. Furyk, "I had a lot of opportunities,it just didn’t work out." Mr. Woods had his chances but didn’t make a birdie over his last 32 holes.  Unlike Mr. Cabrera he couldn’t make the shots when he needed them. "He put a lot of pressure on Jim and I, and we didn’t get it done," said Woods who for the second major in a row started in the last group and couldn’t finish on top. 

Mr. Cabrera may not have been on anyone’s list of potential winners when the week started, or even when he was the leader after round two, but he played like a champion on a course that required exactly that kind of play.  Last month at the European Tours’ BMW Championship he blew a chance to win on the back nine by topping a tee shot.  Today he make a birdie two at the 300 yard par 3 eighth and a birdie 3 at the 499 yard par 4 with an iron shot who’s quality appeared to surprise even him.  Even though he three putted the sixteenth for a bogey and bogeyed the seventeenth on the eighteenth he hit a perfect tee shot followed by a marvelous iron and two good putts to par the toughest hole on the course.  "He just kept himself calm," caddie Eddie Gardino said. "He might go and win the British Open, because he knows he can do it."

What fun it was to watch the best players in the world play golf the way I do, having chances at birdie and missing, saving pars, or not and thus score bogey, and get into such bizarre places that a double bogey or worse is the outcome.  This is the only tournament where I can truly relate to the game they are playing. The difficulty of the game is equalized by the brutality of the course.  Good stuff! As Johnny Miller said during the telecast, "It’s really tough to win a US Open!"  Amen to that sir.

Congratulations to Mr. Cabrera!  For the first time since Roberto de Vincenzo won the British Open in 1967 the Argentinian people have a Major Champion to celebrate.  What a worthy winner is he.