Angel Cabrera showed why he is a past Masters champion on Sunday as he took Adam Scott to a playoff after the final round at Augusta National and he came just short of bringing things to a third playoff hole when his birdie putt on the 10th rested next to the hole, leaving Scott to win the tournament with his belly putter.
Cabrera had one of the best weekends on tour in a long time and had a chance to add to his PGA Tour titles at Augusta in 2009 and at the US Open in 2007. Cabrera hadn't had a top 10 in quite some time, but he put that to rest at Augusta as he went toe to toe with the inevitable champion in Scott, who blew two majors at the Masters and the British Open in the past 12 months.
Cabrera has experience playing with top names after holding off Tiger in 2007 and after coming in as the 269th ranked player he had the chance to make history with his son working as his caddy. The 43-year-old who was the first winner from Argentina could relate to Scott, who became the first to win from Australia.
Cabrera slipped up early in the day, but was able to recover and then hit an unbelievable shot on 18 to tie tings up with Scott, who went into the clubhouse with the lead. Scott was able to nail a 25-footer to finish ahead of Cabrera, but the Argentinean was able to convert to send things to extra time despite the rain.
"The only one thing in my head was about winning," said Cabrera. "I like the challenges, and so these tournaments are very, very important for me. So sometimes they take my best out of me."
On the 18th hole the two golfers hit nearly the same shots and were able to convert before moving over to the 10th, where Cabrera hit a near perfect putt, but it rolled off just to the side of the hole and grazed the edge. Scott used his belly putter and sank it to win.
Cabrera last won a major in 2009, which is sooner than Tiger Woods has, who finished in the top five despite being assessed a penalty after taking an illegal drop that turned out not to be illegal. Woods still finished four strokes back and was tied for fourth in an excellent performance at Augusta.