Kind of a bummer Cabrera didn't win
By all accounts, Adam Scott is one of professional golf's terrific people.
Too bad he won the Masters on Sunday.
Nothing against Scott, but look at him next to Angel Cabrera and justice has to prefer the latter.
Someone my age at least has to favor the older guy over the younger guy, the burly guy who seems to have body fat under his sweater over the guy with a flat belly under his tightfitting shirt and the guy who uses a conventional putter over the guy with one of those controversial long putters.
Honestly this isn't meant as anti-Scott, a 32-year-old Australian who recorded his first major victory by beating Cabrera with a birdie on their second playoff hole.
It's meant as an endorsement of Cabrera, a 43-year-old Argentine who already had won the 2007 U.S. Open and 2009 Masters.
Among athletes, golfers especially are hard to really know because if they come to your town at all, they arrive and depart within a matter of a week.
So a lot of superficial impressions are conjured.
For starters, I'm taking the player who at 6-feet-1, 264 pounds looks like a retired nose tackle over the player who at 6-feet, 180 pounds looks like a current wide receiver.
Scott looks like too many other modern pro golfers. He's in perfect physical condition, lean like an athlete in this era of nutrition and weight training.
Oh, yeah, and he not only still has most of his hair — another strike against him — but they seem to be in place even on the golf course.
Then there's Cabrera, who looks like a lot of guys who play on the local public courses most of us play on.
In other words, Scott looks country club and Cabrera looks park district.
Sorry, excuse me, but I just can't favor the guy with more hair over the guy with a receding hairline and the guy with the CEO look over the guy who reminds me of my late uncle Albert the barber.
Scott's father was a teaching pro and now has a golf architecture business. Cabrera's father was a handyman, his mother a maid and they separated when he was 3 or 4 years old ... leaving grandma to raise him.
A good guess is that Scott got into golf by playing golf. Cabrera got into the game by caddying and playing other caddies for money.
Are you starting to see why I happen to prefer Angel Cabrera?
Maybe not, but Cabrera reminds me of Lee Trevino, who came from modest means and started out by betting money he didn't have on Texas golf courses.
Trevino has been one of my all-time favorites in any sport since I approached him for an interview after he participated in an outing on the North Shore.
Having just returned from the British Open, Trevino was worn out and told me, “Sorry, I'm too tired right now to talk to you. Just write what you want and I'll say I said it.”
My imagination insists that if Cabrera spoke English, he might say the exacty same thing.
Would he really? Who knows? Who knows much about Cabrera, considering that he shows up to play the big U.S. tournaments, contends sometimes, wins occasionally and then disappears again?
The mystery only adds to Cabrera's appeal. Still, to be fair, not much separates these two gentleman golfers on the likability scale but personal preference.
So, Adam Scott, congratulations on your victory and, Angel Cabrera, sorry you didn't win.