If he did, the USGA failed in its mission, which seems to be making players squirm until they can’t squirm any more, and then having a laugh about it. Then again, Baddeley wasn’t exactly smiling and cracking jokes as he hacked his way through a final round that unraveled from the minute he hit his first tee shot.

He wasn’t alone. Players were falling everywhere on a hot and sticky day. Stephen Ames was tied for the lead when he made a triple bogey on No. 7, while Steve Stricker had a share of it at the turn before promptly making two doubles in a row on Nos. 10 and 11.

The scary thing is, it could have been a lot worse.

After a second round on Friday where conditions were so brutal players were in near revolt, the USGA tried to tame the monster it created by watering greens over and over on the weekend and giving players at least a few pins they could shoot at.

Cabrera took advantage with two iron shots on the back side for kick-in birdies, then fought back nerves to stumble his way in. He then sat smiling in the scorer’s area, happy as heck to be done and secure in the knowledge that whatever course remained would beat up whoever was left standing.

The Argentine ended up with the lowest score of the week, though the debate will always be whether he was the better player for four days or simply the player who contained his mistakes the most. That’s always the fate of an Open winner, especially those who come from seemingly nowhere to win like Geoff Ogilvy did last year and Cabrera did to a certain extent this week.

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Those hoping to join Cabrera in the elite club of major championship winners don’t have a whole lot to look forward to. Players head for Scotland next month for the British Open at Carnoustie, where Jean Van de Velde’s meltdown eclipsed anything seen here this week.

Oakmont might have been brutal, but Carnoustie is widely regarded to have been the toughest major championship test ever when the British was last played there in 1999.

The wind will blow, rough will be even deeper, and the greens will be just as slick. About the only thing missing will be the bear.

He escaped, which on this day made him one of the lucky ones.

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