Cabrera holds nerve to win maiden major

The 37-year-old from Cordoba, whose power game earned him five birdies on a hot and humid day at treacherous Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania, fired a one-under-par 69 for a five-over total of 285 on one of golf's toughest layouts.

Three strokes clear with three holes to play, the big-hitting Cabrera survived bogeys on 16 and 17 before parring the last to emulate the achievement of compatriot Roberto de Vicenzo, winner of the 1967 British Open at Hoylake.

"This is a great moment for me," a smiling Cabrera told reporters through a Spanish interpreter after hoisting the trophy.

"I watched all the majors on television when I was a kid and I never thought I would be here at this moment. It is a very difficult to describe.

"Probably tomorrow when I wake up with this trophy beside me in my bed, I will realise that I have won the US Open."

Twice champion Woods, hunting his 13th major title, had to settle for a share of second place with fellow American Furyk (70) after closing with a 72.

The world number one, two strokes behind the pacesetting Aaron Baddeley of Australia overnight, stumbled early with a double-bogey at the 3rd.

Although he hit back with a birdie at the 4th, he was frequently forced to scramble to save par and failed to pick up any further shots before finishing at six over.

BEAUTIFUL ROUND

"Angel played a beautiful round of golf," said Woods, who has never won a major when trailing after 54 holes. "He put the pressure on and Jim and I didn't get it done."

Swede Niclas Fasth birdied two of the last five holes for a 70 and fourth place at seven over, one better than Americans David Toms (72) and Bubba Watson (74).

With little margin for error on Oakmont's hard, fast and sloping greens, Cabrera and American Anthony Kim (67) were the only players in the field of 63 to shoot under par on a day when the average was 74.75.

The scoreboard fluctuated wildly and six players held at least a share of the lead.

Overnight pacesetter Baddeley surrendered his lead by triple-bogeying the opening hole and fell back into a tie for 13th at 12 over after shooting an 80.

Woods was still the tournament favourite midway through the final round after reaching the turn in one-over 36 but he dropped his third shot of the day at the 11th after hitting his approach into a greenside bunker.

When Cabrera hit a superb nine-iron approach from 160 yards to three feet at the par-four 15th, setting up his fifth birdie to move three shots clear, the tournament appeared his for the taking.

However, the leaderboard seesawed for the next half-hour. Furyk reeled off three birdies in a row from the par-three 13th to climb into second place, two behind Cabrera.

Moments later, Woods missed a slippery five-footer for birdie on the 13th green to stay in third before Cabrera bogeyed the par-three 16th after failing to reach the green off the tee.

The Argentine, repeatedly puffing on a cigarette over the closing stretch, dropped another shot at the par-four 17th after missing the green to the left with his approach before holding on for victory.

FINAL SCORES

285 Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 69 71 76 69

286 Jim Furyk 71 75 70 70
Tiger Woods 71 74 69 72

287 Niclas Fasth (Sweden) 71 71 75 70

289 David Toms 72 72 73 72
Bubba Watson 70 71 74 74

290 Nick Dougherty (Britain) 68 77 74 71
Scott Verplank 73 71 74 72
Jerry Kelly 74 71 73 72

291 Justin Rose (Britain) 71 71 73 76
Stephen Ames (Canada) 73 69 73 76
Paul Casey (Britain) 77 66 72 76

292 Lee Janzen 73 73 73 73
Hunter Mahan 73 74 72 73
Steve Stricker 75 73 68 76
Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 72 70 70 80

293 Carl Pettersson (Sweden) 72 72 75 74
Tim Clark (South Africa) 72 76 71 74
Jeff Brehaut 73 75 70 75

294 Anthony Kim 74 73 80 67
Mike Weir (Canada) 74 72 73 75
Vijay Singh (Fiji) 71 77 70 76

295 Ken Duke 74 75 73 73
Brandt Snedeker 71 73 77 74
Nick O'Hern (Australia) 76 74 71 74

296 Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 73 77 75 71
Boo Weekley 72 75 77 72
J J Henry 71 78 75 72
Stuart Appleby (Australia) 74 72 71 79

297 Pablo Martin (Spain) 71 76 77 73
Peter Hanson (Sweden) 71 74 78 74
Fred Funk 71 78 74 74
D J Brigman 74 74 74 75
Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) 75 73 73 76
Graeme McDowell (Britain) 73 72 75 77

298 Lee Westwood (Britain) 72 75 79 72
Shingo Katayama (Japan) 72 74 79 73
Mathew Goggin (Australia) 77 73 74 74
Jeev Milkha Singh (India) 75 75 73 75
Ian Poulter (Britain) 72 77 72 77
Tom Pernice Jr 72 72 75 79

299 Kenneth Ferrie (Britain) 74 76 77 72
Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 71 75 78 75
John Rollins 75 74 74 76

300 Marcus Fraser (Australia) 72 78 77 73
Olin Browne 71 75 80 74
Ben Curtis 71 77 78 74
Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain) 70 78 78 74
Zach Johnson 76 74 76 74
Chris DiMarco 76 73 73 78

301 Rory Sabbatini (South Africa) 73 77 78 73
Charles Howell III 76 73 77 75
Dean Wilson 76 74 76 75
Ernie Els (South Africa) 73 76 74 78

302 Anders Hansen (Denmark) 71 79 79 73
Michael Putnam 73 74 72 83

303 Chad Campbell 73 72 77 81

304 Kevin Sutherland 74 76 79 75
Bob Estes 75 75 77 77
Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 73 77 75 79
Harrison Frazar 74 74 74 82

305 Jason Dufner 71 75 79 80

306 George McNeill 72 76 77 81

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