OAKMONT, United States (AFP) - It's been the year of the underdog in golf so far in 2007.
Zach Johnson's upset win in the Masters was followed by an out-of-the blue triumph for Argentina's Angel Cabrera in the US Open here Sunday.
Both men were died-in-the-wool also-rans when the year began. Both have now joined the pantheon of major title winners.
Prior to Augusta in April, five of the six previous major titles had gone to either Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson comprising a terrible twosome not seen since the days of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.
This year it has been more complicated.
Mickelson, distraught over his final hole collapse at the last year's US Open, has switched coaches in a bid to straighten out his errant drives, but after enjoying initial success, a wrist injury sustained in practicing from the punishing Oakmont rough has left him looking and sounding worried.
Woods has other matters on his mind with the birth of his first child due in early July possibly overshadowing his bid for a third straight British Open title at Carnoustie.
Of the other leading lights of the past few years, Ernie Els is still not quite the player he was before badly injuring a knee in a jet-ski accident in the summer of 2005 and Vijay Singh is well into the veteran stages.
That leaves room for others to breathe and Johnson and Cabrera have been in the right place at the right time to benefit from the situation.
Tied for second at Oakmont, Woods is honest enough to admit that he does have another problem.
A perfect 12 out of 12 at winning majors when either leading or sharing the lead going into the final round, he is an astounding 0-29 when trailing with 18 holes to go, Sunday being the latest installment of that run.
"I haven't gotten it done. Put myself there and haven't gotten it done," he said. "That's one of the things I need to go back and analyze.
"Finishing second is never fun. You play so hard and it's just disappointing. My last four majors -- 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd - not terrible, but could have been a bit better."
Attention now switches to Carnoustie on the windy east coast of Scotland which next month will host the British Open for the first time since the notorious 1999 edition when the rugged links was dubbed Car-Nasty for the toughness of its layout.
Jim Furyk, who tied for second with Woods at Oakmont, said that the challenge would be very different to that presented here.
"Totally different styles of game," he commented.
"I will try to get my game in shape for that one. I will have a couple of events - in Flint and Tiger's event at Congressional and I'll use those in preparation and try and focus on the British Open."
Carnoustie eight years ago also produced an unexpected winner in the shape of Paul Lawrie and the Scot remains the last European to win a major title.
That should again encourage the lesser lights of the golfing tours and possibly make it a hat-trick of upsets for the year.
