US Open Champion Angel Cabrera returned home to a hero’s welcome as the town of Cordoba came to a standstill to celebrate Argentina’s first Major Champion in 40 years.
Hundreds gathered as a motorcade took the new national hero from the airport to his home on Tuesday, with Cabrera, draped in the Argentine flag, holding the US Open trophy aloft through the sunroof of the station wagon. The Governor of Cordoba was among those who welcomed his arrival along with representatives of the President of Argentina.
And leading the cheers was his close friend and mentor, Eduardo Romero.
“It’s been incredible. There were more than 500 people waiting for him at the airport. There are 35,000 people that live in the town and everything is closed today,” said Romero. “The schools, restaurants and shops are all closed.”
Cabrera and Romero go back a long way, to a time when they were neighbours in Cordoba and Romero spotted something special in this particular young caddie at the Cordoba Golf Club. Cabrera first started caddieing at the age of ten and, when he was 15, Romero encouraged him to play the game. He turned professional five years later and has not looked back.
“I remember when he was younger he was not happy,” recalled Romero. “His people were very poor. It was very difficult for him to find food every day. He had to work as a caddie. It was very hard.”
But Romero saw something special in Cabrera’s raw talent.
“He was a very competitive character and on the course, he was a very aggressive player. One day, I was speaking with a friend of mine and he asked me when we were going to sponsor him. We both saw something special in him. We knew his entire family and the situation they were in. We convinced ourselves that he was worth taking a chance on. We saw something different in this guy than the other guys.”
Romero gave his young protégé financial assistance in his early professional career until Cabrera graduated from The European Tour Qualifying School at his fourth attempt in 1995. He was up and running, winning his first two titles in Latin America that year before making his European Tour breakthrough in the 2001 Open de Argentina. The following year he added the Benson and Hedges International Open title to his list of achievements and capped that by winning The European Tour’s flagship event in 2005 when he captured the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club.
Romero has also enjoyed great success in Europe, winning eight European Tour titles with a further two victories on the European Seniors Tour and one on the US Champions Tour, and he currently leads the European Seniors Tour Order of Merit. But on Sunday his attention was on Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania and the final round of the US Open.
“I called his phone shortly after he finished his round on Sunday to congratulate him. He was happy to hear from me but was still very nervous because he hadn’t won yet. I told him to take it easy because even though Tiger was still on the golf course, it was very difficult for anyone to birdie the last hole.”
Cabrera’s win will be felt across Latin America and in Argentina in particular.
“It’s been fantastic,” added Romero. “All of Argentina is talking about Angel. We have a number of good players now like (Jose) Coceres, myself and (Ricardo) Gonzales. Golf is growing in popularity in our country but we needed something special like this. The dream is coming true.”
Cabrera’s victory was only the second Major Championship triumph for an Argentine golfer following Roberto de Vincenzo’s win in The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool 40 years earlier in 1967.
And de Vicenzo, now 84 years old, added his congratulations to the newly crowned US Open Champion.
“Cabrera is now a hero in Argentina. He’s my hero! I’m 84 years old. I’m very happy for him because I didn’t want to leave this world before I saw something like this.
“I think it was fantastic that Cabrera was able to win the US Open Championship. The US Open is very difficult to win, especially for a fellow from South America.
“It was very good for our country. He beat the best players in the world, including Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk.”
Cabrera and Romero also share another bond in that both carry animal nicknames. Romero is “El Gato”, The Cat, for the way he stalks his prey. Cabrera inherited the sobriquet “El Pato” from is father, which translates as “The Duck”. It may not instil fear into his opponents but at Oakmont, The Duck tamed the Tiger, and The Cat was smiling.
