The big story at this weekend’s U.S. Open turned out to be a little-known Argentinean making the clutch shots he needed to finish like a champion, while the world’s top ranked player, and one of the best closers in golf, missed his birdie try on the 18th to fall one shot short. Angel Cabrera, who shot a first round 68, had two of only 8 total under-par rounds for the entire field, stumbling only once all weekend, with a 76 posted on Saturday.

After Saturday’s play, it began to look as though Tiger might be set to make a Sunday run for the trophy and finally overcome his inability to win a major when not leading going into the final round of play.

Tiger started Sunday in the final group, two shots behind then leader, Aaron Baddeley. To say Baddeley played poorly on Sunday would not only be a terrible pun, but also a huge understatement. The man who had the best putting average of the field going into Sunday suddenly could not sink anything and finished with a 10-over par 80 for his final round.

Tiger on the other hand, played solid golf all day, shooting over par only twice, and sinking an early birdie shot. Tiger’s best chance to catch Cabrera came on the 17th hole, but Tiger’s bunker shot sailed over the green, forcing him to settle for par.

Jim Furyk also had a shot at besting Cabrera’s tournament-winning score of 5-over par, but a bizarrely misplayed 17th hole ended with a bogey, dropping Furyk one shot back of Cabrera, where he finished tied with Tiger.

So the man nicknamed “The Duck”, a pot-bellied chain smoker who no one could have imagined winning this year’s U.S Open, ended up doing just that. Suddenly I find myself dusting off my clubs to head to the driving range, because if Angel Cabrera taught us anything this weekend, it’s that perseverance and patience can overcome seemingly insurmountable odds and help transform a portly “Duck” into a Tiger-slayer.