The Mighty Duck

Only in golf can a duck beat a tiger and a bulldog. After stinking up the joint yesterday with a 76, Angel Cabrera came back with a 69 to beat Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk by one to become the third straight foreign born player to win the US Open.

For an instant, Cabrera led by 3 with 3 holes left in his round before he, then the event got tight. On the long par 3 16th, Cabrera 3-putted after a not so great iron shot, which followed a Furyk birdie on 15. Then on the drivable par 4 17th, Cabrera didn't go for the green in one and laid up in the fairway, but he still drove the ball too far leaving a tough half-wedge pitch shot which is all feel. With the adrenaline obviously running, he hit that shot too hard and through the green. After a chip that barely got on the green, Cabrera missed the 7-foot par putt, leaving him in a tie with Furyk with Tiger 1 back now, still grinding out pars. After a great 2-putt par at 16, Furyk went for the green at 17 even though he probably wouldn't have reached the green. He killed his drive left into 9-inch deep rough, which required 2 shots to get out of, leaving a tricky downhill par putt. His par attempt hit the back edge of the hole and trickled on, leaving Furyk with a bogey and 1 behind. Cabrera hit a huge drive down the middle of the 18th fairway, the toughest hole on the course. He found the green with his 2nd and 2 putted for par posting +5.

Furyk found the 18th fairway, but pulled his approach through the green. His birdie try never threatened the hole, and he finished 1 behind. Tiger came to 16 1 behind. The realistic scenario was: par 16, birdie 17, par 18, go to a Monday playoff. Tiger got a tough 2-putt par at 16, then pulled out 3-wood on the 17th tee because driver would've been too much club (haha). His 3-wood missed the green and ended up in Bigfoot bunker, not great, but certainly than the tall grass Furyk had just been. Tiger hadn't been able to pull off the great shot on the back 9, but you felt like this would be it. He had made a number of clutch par putts, but he hadn't made the big birdie to really announce his presence. This was his chance. Tiger's bunker shot was good, but it never stopped on the green and stopped in the fringe. Tiger actually had to work to get his par, leaving him with a must birdie on the toughest hole on the course where he had only even parred the hole once.

You think, if Tiger can just hit the fairway, he'll make birdie, because that's the toughest part of the hole and the most questionable part of his game, can Tiger find the fairway. He crushes the ball, the crowd goes nuts, Tiger poses with his finish, you figure the drive is going right down Broadway. But what makes Oakmont's last hole so tough is that the fairway slopes left to right and will kick balls toward the rough. Tiger's ball hit in the right center part of the fairway, but kicked right, ending up right against the tall grass leaving him a tricky shot. You still expect Tiger to knock it stiff close to the hole. He crushes his 2nd shot, Tiger likes it, but the ball carries about 2 yards too far and rolls to the back of the green leaving him about a 1 in 5 putt. If Tiger's ball would've stayed in the fairway, his 2nd shot would've had enough spin to stop close to the hole. Now Tiger had to make a miraculous putt to tie Cabrera, it really would've been miraculous. But this is Tiger Woods, if anyone's going to do it, he will. He didn't, and a duck won the US Open.

So for the next couple of days, the media will harp on the fact that Tiger hasn't come from behind to win a major when he's had a chance to do so. It's surprising that he didn't do it this time and hasn't come from behind in a major at all, but this doesn't mean the fall of Tiger Woods. He now has 4 2nd place finishes in majors. Remember Jack Nicklaus finished 2nd 19 times in majors!!!! In his last 4 majors, Tiger's finished 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, still pretty darn good. And I have to think he still wasn't as sharp coming in as he'd like to be because he's getting ready for the baby and taking care of his wife. I'm sure that's distracted him some.

I do think Tiger will never win a major in the way he did the '97 Masters or 2000 US Open. The new swing he's had to go to because of his knee won't allow him to do so. But do I think he'll surpass Nicklaus's total of 18 majors, yes.

Looking at the whole tournament, Cabrera was the best player all week: 69, 71, 76, 69, he was able to survive the bad round that most contenders have in a major. Cabrera survived his bad round; Tiger's good Saturday round needed to be better. And what a great back 9 run by Furyk, who had the Bill Cowher jaw going after his birdie on 15. I was waiting for the Terrible Towels to come out or the chant "Here We Go Steelers".

I hope the US Open comes back to Oakmont sooner than later. This wasn't a course of just 480 yard par 4s, it had some of those. But it had tricky short holes, birdie holes, tall grass, short grass, fast greens, slower greens, it had it all. What a great course. And the scary thing is it could've played a lot tougher if the USGA staff of 2004 (the year Shinnecock Hills almost became unplayable) were in control this year.