Playoff losers praise Cabrera, rue chances that got away

Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell had golden opportunities to win the Masters Sunday, yet neither could seize the moment. Perry was sanguine afterward, while Campbell admitted his disappointment.

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- When Angel Cabrera returned home to Argentina after winning the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont, he received what has turned out to be a very meaningful gift.

Roberto de Vicenzo, who had missed out on a playoff at the 1968 Masters when he signed an incorrect scorecard, sent Cabrera a framed photograph. In the picture, the Argentine legend has a Green Jacket in his hands.

"I hope this gives you luck so someday you can bring back a Green Jacket for yourself," reads the inscription.

And on a wild and wonderful Sunday at Augusta National, Cabrera did just that -- outlasting Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry in a playoff that capped off one of the most memorable final rounds ever.

"This is a great moment, the dream of any golfer to win the Masters," Cabrera said during the Green Jacket ceremony on the putting green. "I'm so emotional I can barely talk."

Cabrera didn't have to double-check his math on Sunday, as de Vicenzo should have. But he did need two extra holes and two clutch pars -- one carved out from behind the thick trunk of a pine tree -- to earn the second leg of the career Grand Slam.

For the 48-year-old Perry, who had started the day tied for the lead with Cabrera, the loss was his second playoff defeat at a major. Mark Brooks had beaten him in a playoff at the 1996 PGA Championship at Valhalla, but once again Perry refused to hang his head.

"I'm not going to feel sorry," Perry said. "If this is the worst thing that happens to me, I can live with it. I really can. Great players get it done, and Angel got it done. This is his second major he won.

"I've blown two, but that's the only two I've had chances of winning."

Perry actually had a prime opportunity to win in regulation when he birdied the 15th and 16th holes to separate himself by two strokes. He had been in control most of the day, but skulled chips at the most inopportune of times prolonged the festivities.

"I can't stop my right hand, when I get a little nervous," said Perry, who won the FBR Open earlier this year, shaking his head. "It wants to shoot a little bit and I can't calm it down."

So the three re-assembled at the 18th tee, where Cabrera's drive sailed right and settled behind a tree. He saw an opening in the distance and tried to thread his ball through it, but the ball struck bark and ricocheted sideways into the 18th fairway.

Meanwhile, Perry, who had now played the 18th in 11 over -- counting the final hole of regulation -- during his career, put his drive down the left side of the fairway. Campbell was a little farther along, but his second shot landed in the right greenside bunker.

When Perry missed the green as well, Cabrera suddenly had new life, and his towering third shot landed 6 feet from the pin to ratchet up the pressure. Perry responded by chipping to within inches for par while Campbell blasted out to 4 feet.

Cabrera made his saver first as Perry stood nearby and applauded graciously. But the quiet Texan, who had been beaten at the 2003 PGA Championship by Sean Micheel's brilliant 7-iron, couldn't negotiate his putt.

"I'm probably a little more disappointed this time, because I hit a lot of good shots on the last hole," said Campbell, who closed with a 69. "I guess I'll take the 18th hole there at the PGA. I hit a good shot in there and I just got beat by a better shot.

"And today, I kind of blew it myself."

Perry felt similarly after the second playoff hole where his approach veered way left of the green -- not unlike the shot hit by Len Mattiace in his 2003 playoff loss to Mike Weir -- and he couldn't save par. Cabrera then two-putted from 15 feet to earn the win, punching his arm into the air in celebration.

"I'm proud of Angel," Perry said. "I know how hard it is as a professional and as a competitor. If they execute and beat you I'm going to shake the man's hand … You have to hand it to him. He was fighting just as hard as I was out there."

The win was only Cabrera's second top-10 finish on the PGA TOUR since his victory at Oakmont and lifted him to 18th in the Official World Golf Ranking. The three-man playoff was the first since 1987, when Larry Mize beat Greg Norman and Cabrera's idol, Seve Ballesteros, with that memorable pitch and run at the 11th hole.

"He's a good friend," Cabrera said of the 52-year-old Spaniard, a two-time Masters champ who is battling brain cancer. "We need him to get back. We need him in the game. And for me, he's the greatest golfer ever."

Cabrera did a pretty good Seve imitation most of the week. He plays the game with similar abandon, but came up clutch when he needed to in posting his fourth top-10 at the Masters.

"He's a great player, one of the best drivers of the ball we have," Campbell said of the man he considers a good friend. "He's long and hits it very straight. He's one of the longest guys out here, really underrated in that category. …

"We speak a lot, and you know, he's obviously a great player, two majors. That's pretty impressive."

Perry, for his part, seemed more concerned with how his family -- some 20 members were staying at their house this week -- would deal with the loss. He was also worried about his parents back home in Kentucky, where his mother is battling cancer.

"I hope they are not too sad," Perry said. "Dad, he will try to pump me up if I know my dad. You know what, he just feels sorry for me. He just wanted me to win. I know it with all his heart, he wants the best for me just like I want the best for my kids.

"We'll have a good conversation tonight."

And as for Perry?

"I have a short memory, I really do," Perry said as his wife, Sandy, laughed. "There will probably be some heartache tonight, but my family is here and we're going to have some fun."