Cabrera and Perry were the final pairing of the day, with Campbell one group ahead. But by the time the final twosome teed off, Phil Mickelson had already set Augusta on fire. Mickelson, playing with Tiger Woods, tied the front nine scoring record.
Then Woods started dropping birdies, and soon the focus was almost entirely on the Mickelson-Woods pairing. But neither player ever held a share of the lead, and both tailed off at the end.
Perry played steadily all day, making par after par until a couple great birdies in the middle of the back nine. Campbell and Cabrera were up and down throughout the day, but they caught Perry at 12-under after Perry finished with consecutive bogeys.
Campbell bogied the first extra hole, leaving Perry and Cabrera to play one more hole, the 10th. Perry pushed his approach wide of the green, then chipped well past the hole. That left Cabrera two putts for the win, and he took them - and the Green Jacket.
Final Leaders
p-Angel Cabrera, 68-68-69-71--276
Kenny Perry, 68-67-70-71--276
Chad Campbell, 65-70-72-69--276
Shingo Katayama, 67-73-70-68--278
Phil Mickelson, 73-68-71-67--279
John Merrick, 68-74-72-66--280
Steve Flesch, 71-74-68-67--280
Tiger Woods, 70-72-70-68--280
Steve Stricker, 72-69-68-71--280
p-won playoff
Leaderboard
Cabrera was something of a surprise winner a couple years ago at the 2007 U.S. Open. He'd knocked around the European Tour for years, winning here and there. A very solid player, one who popped up in contention in majors often enough to be taken seriously as a threat, but someone who had not yet won on the US PGA Tour.
Now, Angel Cabrera is a Masters champion, and a 2-time major champion.
And the other members of the Masters Club, those past champions who get to attend the Champions Dinner, should be in for a treat next year with some great Argentinian food on the Tuesday evening of Masters week.
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