AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > June > 17
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Oakmont wins; trophy heads offshore
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Oakmont, Pa. — Well, they know now. Oakmont is just as tough as they said it was, even without the trees. Tiger Woods did his best to replace them, but he fell a stroke short. (You know, Woods for trees. Oh, well.)
They came from around the world to attack this old American original, and once again Oakmont won, but once again America’s golf championship took a trip overseas.
Three years ago it traveled to South Africa with Retief Goosen. Two years ago it went to New Zealand with Michael Campbell. Last year it moved to Australia with Goeff Ogilvy. This time it’s Argentina, and an interpreter was required. Angel Cabrera is 37 years old, speaks limited English, but plays world class golf. He plays the American tour, accepts American moolah, but when it comes to public speaking he is comfortable only with a translator at his side.
It wasn’t a pretty thing. The early part of the day, it looked as if nobody wanted to win it. The first hole set off a series of crashes. The overnight leader, Aaron Baddeley, triple-bogeyed. Bubba Watson double-bogeyed. Justin Rose bogeyed. Paul Casey missed a birdie putt no longer than his arm. Cabrera parred and was never over par the rest of the scrambling round on his trip to the moon.
He has taken the pledge with the PGA Tour, but still goes home to Cordoba in Argentina, where he took his first steps into golf as a caddie.
Oh, this should be a glorifying moment for the AFLAC duck. Cabrera is known as El Pato, Spanish for duck, probably for his waddling stride, though this has not been confirmed. He has won championships around the world, 15 of them, and has come close in some of the World Golf Championships, but this was his first inside these borders, and it didn’t come easy. Just when he should have been coasting home, he bogeyed the par-3 16th hole, which was playing at its extreme, and followed with another bogey on the par-4 17th, which had been birdie-bait this week. Then he finished his second round of 69 this week and went into seclusion while Jim Furyk and Woods took their shots at his 285, 5-over par, and fell back.
The 21-year-old rookie, Anthony Kim of Dallas, had whipped around the course in 67 strokes early in the day, and it looked as if Oakmont might be a soft touch.
No such thing, surely not for Furyk, who was even par, nor for Woods, who was 2 over. The 69 Woods shot Saturday seemed to have left him low on ammunition, and after he double-bogeyed one of the “Church Pew” holes Sunday, he was never on his game the rest of the day.
Still, he had one last downhill putt on the 18th green that would have set up a playoff today. The ball rolled harmlessly off line, right of the hole. Cabrera was shown on camera, celebrating with his caddie.
Crusty old Oakmont fought back with its usual resistance, and took its toll on the best players this national championship could attract. After the round Woods played Saturday, inspiring such gushing commentary on the network telecast, the charge his worshipful followers expected never came off Sunday. That round Saturday, so vigorously serenaded, still netted him a gain of only one stroke.
Play began Sunday looking like the club championship at Wretched Hollow. It picked up in tension, but old Oakmont kept its guard up, and throughout the four days of play, par was broken only eight times. Thus, the national golf championship remains outside our borders. Next year, California gets it chance when the Open moves to Torrey Pines, near San Diego.
Permalink | Comments (6) | Categories: Furman Bisher
