Angel Cabrera holds up the trophy Sunday after winning The Greenbrier Classic.
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — The biggest comeback in Greenbrier Classic history was at the inaugural event in 2010.
Back then, Stuart Appleby fired a course-record 59 to storm from seven back to edge third-round leader Jeff Overton.
This year, the Old White TPC nearly saw the same as a heavy-hearted George McNeill aced the par-3 eighth while carding seven birdies en route to a 9-under 61 to vault to the top of the leaderboard.
The storybook ending was short-lived though, as two-time major champion Angel Cabrera walked away as the 2014 Greenbrier Classic Champion.
“The truth of the matter is I just had a great week,” Cabrera said through an interpreter. “I’ve just been working very hard to get to this moment. I’m very, very happy.”
Cabrera, who started two back of 54-hole leader Billy Hurley III, got to 17-under after eagling the par-4 13th which gave him a three-shot lead over McNeill.
Back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 14 and 15 shrunk Cabrera’s lead to one, but the veteran steadied the ship with a birdie at No. 17 to win by two strokes at 16-under par.
“It felt a little unlucky,” Cabrera said of his back-to-back bogeys. “At 14, I hit a good shot and backed off the green. And then 15, I hit another good shot and it came up bogey, but I still had to stay focused and concentrating on the task at hand.”
Cabrera, who shot a 6-under 64 in the final round, had never won a regular PGA Tour event before Sunday.
The Argentinian has won two majors — the 2007 U.S. Open and the 2009 Masters.
“This was a great opportunity,” he said. “I wanted it. I needed to win a tournament.
“I felt under control out there and I didn’t want to let it get away from me.”
The win by Cabrera kept alive several streaks at the Classic…
