Ángel Cabrera

Argentina

Ángel Cabrera (born 12 September 1969) is an Argentine professional golfer who plays mainly on the European Tour. He is known affectionately as "El Pato" in Spanish or in English as "The duck" for his waddling gait. He is a former U.S. Open champion and Masters champion. He is the first Argentine to win either The Masters or the U.S. Open.

Personal information
Full name Ángel Cabrera
Nickname Spanish version: "El Pato"
English version: "The Duck"
Born 12 September 1969 (1969-09-12) (age 42)
Córdoba, Argentina
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st)
Nationality Argentina
Residence Córdoba, Argentina
Career
Turned professional 1989
Current tour(s) European Tour (joined 1996)
PGA Tour (joined 2007)
Professional wins 46
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 2
European Tour 5
Other 41
Best results in Major Championships
(Wins: 2)
Masters Tournament Won: 2009
U.S. Open Won: 2007
The Open Championship T4: 1999
PGA Championship T19: 2000
 

Cabrera was born in Córdoba, Argentina. His father, Miguel, was a handyman and his mother worked as a maid. Ángel 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, Ángel. Ángel and Silvia have never been formally married, they are officially separated.

When Cabrera was 10 he became a caddy at the Córdoba Country Club, which he says almost became his home. He learned golf playing against other caddies for money. His fierce determination and powerful swing soon caught the eye of members, one of whom, Juan Cruz Molina, a local real estate magnate, bought him his first set of clubs when he was 16.

With his stocky figure and habit of smoking at every hole, Cabrera cut a distinctive figure on the course although he has now given up smoking and chews gum instead.He is also acknowledged as having one of the biggest swings in the game. His son Federico became a professional golfer in 2008.

Professional career
Cabrera was born in Villa Allende, Córdoba, Argentina. He worked as a caddy at the home club of internationally successful Argentine professional Eduardo Romero, who became his mentor. Cabrera turned professional at the age of twenty. His first three visits to the European Tour Qualifying School were unsuccessful, but on his fourth trip in 1995, made with Romero's financial assistance, he qualified for membership of the European Tour in 1996. He retained his card comfortably in his first three seasons and improved substantially to tenth on the Order of Merit in 1999. He has since finished in the top 15 of the Order of Merit on seven occasions, with a best placing of fifth in 2005.

Cabrera's first two professional wins came in Latin America in 1995, and his first European Tour win was the 2001 Argentine Open, which was sanctioned by the European Tour on a one-time basis that year. In 2005 he won the BMW Championship, the most prestigious event on the European Tour schedule other than the majors and the World Golf Championships. However, it was only his third European Tour win, a tally which was perhaps disappointing given his consistent form on the tour. At that point, he had also won seven non-European Tour events in Latin America, where the standard of play is much lower than on the European Tour. Cabrera featured a highest of 9th in the Official World Golf Rankings on October 2, 2005. He was the top-ranked Latin American player for a number of years before the emerging pair of Andrés Romero and Camilo Villegas won PGA Tour tournaments in 2008.

He was a member of the international squad captained by Gary Player in the Presidents Cup in both 2005 and 2007.

Cabrera earned enough money ($623,504) on the PGA Tour in 2006 playing as a non-member to earn a tour card for 2007. He has played almost full time in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

In 2009 Cabrera announced partnership with Gary Player Design to collaborate on golf course design business with a focus in Latin America. This coincides with golf, the Olympics and Brazil coming together in 2016.Cabrera won his first major championship at the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont near Pittsburgh. He finished the tournament at 5-over, topping Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk by one stroke. Cabrera entered the third round as the leader at even par, after finishing the first round at 1-under, and shooting 1-over on the second day. He struggled during the third round, finishing 6 strokes over par, putting him 4 strokes behind the leader and two behind Woods. Cabrera rebounded and came back strong on the last day. He birdied one of the longest par-3 holes in major championship history when he sunk a 20 foot at the 8th hole, which played at a lengthy 300 yards on Sunday. Cabrera finished one stroke under par, bringing him down to 5-over (285) for the championship, just enough to secure his first career major victory. At a post-match interview Cabrera said "Well, there are some players that have psychologists, some have sportologists, I smoke.

Cabrera became the first Argentine player to win the U.S. Open and the second to win a major, joining Roberto De Vicenzo, who won the British Open in 1967 at Royal Liverpool (Hoylake). Cabrera received the 2007 Olimpia de Oro ("Golden Olympia") as Argentina's sportsperson of the year.

Cabrera won the 2009 Masters Tournament in a three-way sudden-death playoff, sending Chad Campbell home after the first playoff hole, and besting Kenny Perry on the second. On the first playoff hole, the 18th, Cabrera missed right of the fairway, leaving his ball stymied directly behind a tree. On his second shot, he hit a shot right of the tree that would have sent the golf ball onto the 10th hole fairway, but ended up hitting another tree about 30 yards ahead, bouncing left and settling in the center of the 18th fairway. He and Perry both got up-and-down for par, while Campbell missed his 4 foot par putt and was eliminated. On the second playoff hole, the 10th, Cabrera made par to defeat Perry, becoming the first Argentine to win the Masters.[9] He was the lowest-ranked golfer to win the Masters, having been ranked 69th before the tournament.

Cabrera and Woods are the only active PGA Tour members who have won both the U.S. Open and the Masters as of 2009.

Player profile is based on the information provided by www.en.wikipedia.org