Cabrera hopes to fly under radar -- until Sunday afternoon

Despite being a two-time major champion, Angel Cabrera is most happy when he can lay low and chill out. But he loves the big stage, know he can win big tournaments, and now has his eye on trying to put together his own Grand Slam.

By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Contributor

The only problem with winning two majors?

The new social calendar.

There’s no more ducking out early or politely declining. You’re in demand. An A-lister. Whether it’s to accept an award or chat with the sponsors, you’re the one everyone wants to see.

Put a barbeque grill in front of him or a golf club in his hand and Angel Cabrera’s right at home. Need a meal from whatever is in the fridge? He’s your guy. A bomb down the fairway or an iron to six feet. Again, give him a call.

But ask him to put on a tux? Not happening.

He’d rather wear his Green Jacket. Which is exactly what he did last month at Wentworth at the BMW Championship awards dinner in England. Everyone else went formal; Cabrera slipped on his Masters jacket.

Cabrera’s not a cocktail party kind of guy. Give him his usual group of friends, some steaks, a grill, a tub of cold beer, a little wine and he chills. That’s down-home socializing, just like back home in Argentina. That’s easy, the only way he likes it.

He doesn’t do pre-event team bonding, either. Greg Norman has reserved a wing at the Turnberry Hotel during British Open week for the likely members of his International Presidents Cup team. Cabrera said thanks, but no thanks. He’ll stay in his rental house every night and cook for his buddies.

As for the 109th U.S. Open? He’s got a grill at his home, and his son, Angel Jr., will be joining the regular crew. All he has to find is a good neighborhood butcher. Like that will be hard in the New York area.

Cabrera lumbers into Bethpage with an asterisk. He’s a proven major winner with a game that’s suited to the beast known as the Black. He can launch it, spin and twirl it, flip it deftly out of bunkers and make the clutch putts. He's a former U.S. Open winner, having won at Oakmont just two years ago. And he’s the only man who can win a Grand Slam in 2009.

And yet, thanks to that guy named Tiger Woods, he might as well be flying under the radar.

While Cabrera was chillin’ in Argentina and getting rid of a nasty cold, Woods came from five back to take down Muirfield Village with a closing 65 at the Memorial Tournament. So yes, the defending champ is the odds-on favorite. And Phil Mickelson? Even though his mind and heart are with his wife Amy’s battle with breast cancer, he’s still the toast of Broadway, Manhattan, New Jersey and the LIE -- Long Island Expressway.

Cabrera doesn’t mind. Honestly. He knows the better they play, the better for him. And he’s not the least bit intimidated by either one.

El Pato -- "the Duck" -- is only focused on what he needs to do. He flew into Houston last week to work with PGA Professional Charlie Epps for three days and get fitted for his official International Presidents Cup team suit at Houston’s Galleria and cook his famous chicken and rice for Epps and his wife Judy before flying to New York.

He considered playing the St. Jude Classic -- he played in the Shell Houston Open the week before the Masters -- but Epps convinced him it would be better to practice and play in Houston’s heat and humidity where the heat index was close to 100, then get to New York early.

“He likes the big stage and he wants to win the big tournaments,’’ Epps said. “We haven’t talked at length, but he knows he can win (the Grand Slam).’’

Since winning the Masters, Cabrera has played -- in order -- well, top-15, not-so-sharp and sick. He missed the cut at the Quail Hollow Championship, then, despite a third-round 77, finished tied for 14th at THE PLAYERS. After taking a few weeks off, he missed the cut at the BMW Championship and the European Open, where he fell ill and doctors gave him antibiotics.

Now Bethpage. Cabrera was just a big bear of a guy the last time the Open was played here. He was a decent player from Argentina who tied for 66th, but other than that? Not many took notice.

“That was about the time when he really wanted to start working more on his game,’’ Epps said. “When he decided he needed to get some help.’’

Enter Epps, who grew up in Argentina, spoke the language and was a perfect Oscar-and-Felix fit. Five years later, Cabrera surprised the field and won his first major by a stroke over Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk.

Epps has smoothed the edges of Cabrera’s once ragged short game and helped him dial in his irons. He even got Cabrera to ease up a bit on himself and smile a bit more and, since Cabrera wants to play more in the United States, Epps hopes to talk him into buying a home and avoiding 10 to 12 long flights each year -- it was 14½ hours from Paris to Santiago, Chile, last month -- to South America.

Cabrera broke this trip in Houston where Epps, who was with him at the BMW, looked at the powerful swing and tried to sharpen everything just a bit with rounds at Shadowhawk Golf Club and a bit of work at The Houstonian Golf Club. But nothing can ever prepare a player for those U.S. Open conditions or The Black.

“The longer and harder the course, the better it is for him,’’ Epps said. “He’s a great driver of the golf ball, he’s a good iron player -- that’s one reason he won at Oakmont -- and his putting has come along quite nicely. … Every part of his game is spot-on.’’

One major gets you into the club, two says you belong. Cabrera wants more, even if he doesn’t talk about it. And, he knows, too, he’s still in both the FedExCup races and the Race for Dubai.

But one thing at a time.

Or in this case, one major thing at a time.

Cabrera is relaxed as ever. Easy. Focused, yes, on practice and practice rounds, but confident.

It’s Epps who has to pull back. Before the Masters, Cabrera was complaining that he never made any putts, so Epps put together a highlight reel of putts Cabrera made at Oakmont. He had it re-cut to add in video of those magic moments at Augusta, too, to reinforce Cabrera’s confidence.

“It just reminds him success breeds success,’’ Epps said.

They’ll watch that more than a few times this week at their house and, as always, Cabrera will do the cooking and Epps will wash the dishes. The formula worked at Augusta -- Cabrera made Veal Milanese that Saturday night -- and it just might work again.

“He understands who he is,’’ Epps said, “and what he’s doing.’’

Which, this week, is working toward that third major, the second leg of a Grand Slam and, most likely, a way to avoid any formal social obligations so he can stay home and grill.