But he might well have been only the second had the most-famous goof in Masters history not occurred. We heard a lot about Cabrera's countryman Roberto De Vicenzo during the final round of The Masters. Just as he was following his victory at the 2007 U.S. Open, Cabrera has been asked lots of questions about De Vicenzo. So what's the deal?
Many golf fans who know about what happened at the 1968 Masters believe that De Vicenzo won only to be disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. Almost, but not quite. Here's the story:
Entering the 1968 Masters, De Vicenzo was the reigning British Open champion. In his mid-40s, he'd enjoyed a peripatetic career that would eventually net him somewhere in the neighborhood of 230 career victories.
De Vicenzo opened the final round in contention, then thrust himself to the top of the leaderboard with a mostly impeccable fourth round. He shot 31 on the front nine, then a record. He closed with a birdie on No. 17 but a bogey on the final hole, and posted 65.
At the end of the day, De Vicenzo was tied with Bob Goalby. The two should have returned on Monday for an 18-hole playoff.
Except that De Vicenzo's playing partner, Tommy Aaron, had made a mistake on De Vicenzo's scorecard. Aaron gave De Vicenzo a par (4) on the 17th hole rather than the birdie (3) De Vicenzo had actually made.
And De Vicenzo had failed to catch the mistake, signing the incorrect scorecard. But he wasn't disqualified. The higher score he signed for stood, and dropped De Vicenzo out of a playoff and into second place, one stroke behind the winner, Goalby.
"What a stupid I am!" De Vicenzo famously exclaimed after the infamous incident. And all of it happened on his 45th birthday.
De Vicenzo, who turns 86 tomorrow, is still going strong, living in Argentina, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. He was still winning Argentina Open titles into his 60s. Just as he won the 1968 Houston Open, the very next tournament he played after the Masters disaster.
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