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The 8th played 300 yards Sunday, and Cabrera was one of two players to make a birdie. The tournament's pivotal hole, once again, was the fabulous 17th. It measured 313 yards and was the classic drivable par 4. Woods reached the greenside bunker Sunday with a titanic 3-wood and barely saved par. Cabrera and Steve Stricker laid up with irons. Cabrera made bogey, Stricker made double bogey. It was just as difficult to hold the green with a flip sand wedge from the fairway as it was from the deep hay or the deep bunkers around the green.
While Oakmont's downhill 1st hole is probably the toughest opening hole in golf, and the 3rd and 4th holes share the famous Church Pew bunkers, the 17th hole is Oakmont's real signature hole. The Opens have proven it.
• Jim Furyk was overlooked during the first 12 holes of the final round (the story of his career) on NBC's telecast. Then he made the most heroic run of anyone in the tournament. With Cabrera struggling to crawl to the clubhouse, Furyk was tied for the lead on the 17th tee. A birdie-par finish wins him his second Open. He tried to drive the green and hit it left, into the deepest rough.
But don't second-guess that decision. Laying up was no bargain, either. His only mistake was trying to finesse that flop shot. He needed to get it on the green, anywhere, and two-putt for par. The one shot Furyk said he'd like over was that first pitch at 17. That's the shot that cost him a chance at a playoff (or a title), not the drive.
• One more thing on Furyk. The most exciting moment of the week was when he knocked out three straight birdies at 13, 14 and 15. Raise your hand if you were sure Furyk was going to pull this Open out, and Cabrera was going to bogey the 18th, too. (Mine's up.)
• That 74-74 finish doesn't look so good on the scoreboard but, hey, it's Oakmont, where 74 is about two under par. I have a new respect for Bubba Watson. I thought he was just another basher, a freakshow long-drive-contest guy with not much else to back it up. Watson showed me plenty at Oakmont. His short game does, indeed, have some holes in it, but the fact that he's hanging around Tiger in practice rounds and asking questions is a good sign. I also liked how he bounced back after making an ugly triple bogey Saturday. He's got game and he's got guts, and we should now have great expectations.
• Those young guns still aren't quite ready. I'm talking about Justin Rose, Paul Casey and Aaron Baddeley. They all had chances to win Sunday, and they all melted like grilled cheese. Baddeley's opening triple en route to 80 was a classic Welcome to Open Sunday moment. Casey and Rose are great talents, but they're still looking for Mariano Rivera to come in and close for them. Chalk up Oakmont as an important stepping stone in their how-to-win-a-major education because they're not going away.
• Think it's not a global game? Wake up. Check out the top 25 finishers' nationalities in America's championship: U.S. 13; Europe 5; Australia and Fiji 3; Canada 2; South Africa and South America, 1 each.
• Next year's Open site: Torrey Pines. Bring your board, dude. Surf's up.
