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Why not Cinderella? Or Angel? Or Bubba?
Published: 6/16/2007 11:40 AM
Last Modified: 6/16/2007 11:40 AM

Bubba and Angel? Sounds like a couple you might meet at a tractor pull.
Not this time. Bubba (Watson) and Angel (Cabrera) are a couple of big-hitting dudes who happen to be on top of the leaderboard at the U.S. Open.
It seems like the entire golf world is predicting that Watson, who has never won a PGA Tour event, and Cabrera, a three-time winner in Europe who has never won in the U.S., don't have what it takes to stay on top. Everyone expects a "name" golfer to rise to the occasion.
I think it's somewhat interesting, especially from a media standpoint, when a non-household name is in contention. What new can be written about Tiger or Phil? Bubba and Angel, however, are fresh meat.
A couple of quick introductions:
Cabrera is an ex-caddie from Argentina. He bears a striking resemblance to actor Alfred Molina, who played Doctor Octopus in "Spider-Man 2." Otto Octavius never swung a wedge like Cabrera, whose nickname is "Pato." Translated to English, the nickname is "Duck." Midway through the tournament, he was the only golfer on the course who wasn't waddling around over par.
Watson is from Bagdad, Florida.
Like Tiger Woods, Watson's dad was a Green Beret. Like Tiger, Watson gets great distance off the tee. Unlike Tiger, he doesn't have a coach (he is self taught, going all the way back to when he hit wiffle balls with a cut-down club as a kid) or a victory.
Watson has a pink shaft on his driver because he indicated you can't talk smack to a guy with a pink club who outdrives you.
He is hitting irons off the tee at Oakmont, thanks to a caddie who convinces him to leave the driver in the bag. Watson tells the caddie "I think I can get there" with a driver. The caddie responds "I know you can get there, but this is what we're hitting."
Said Watson, "He's got a little baby, so he's got to eat, too."






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Tulsa World sports writer Jimmie Tramel is a former class president at Locust Grove High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern State University with a journalism degree and, while attending college, was sports editor of the Pryor Daily Times. He joined the Tulsa World on Oct. 17, 1989, the same day an earthquake struck the World Series. He is the OSU basketball beat writer and a columnist and feature writer during football season. In 2007, he wrote a book about Oklahoma State football with former Cowboy coach Pat Jones.

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