Romero captures second major, thrilled to head home

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The last time Eduardo Romero returned home to Villa Allende, the small village with a population of 35,000 where he lives in Argentina, the entire town came out to greet him. Schools shut down. Kids came to greet him at the airport. They followed him to his car.

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Eduardo Romero won the 29th U.S. Senior Open at The Broadmoor.

Eduardo Romero

2008 Results

Date Tournament Finish 1/20/08 MasterCard Championship at Hualalai T18 2/10/08 Allianz Championship T4 2/17/08 The ACE Group Classic T16 3/09/08 Toshiba Classic T39 3/16/08 AT&T Champions Classic T20 3/30/08 Ginn Championship Hammock Beach Resort T31 4/06/08 The Cap Cana Championship T9 4/27/08 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf T21 5/25/08 Senior PGA Championship T16 6/01/08 The Principal Charity Classic T12 6/29/08 Commerce Bank Championship T21 7/06/08 Dick's Sporting Goods Open WON 7/27/08 The Senior Open Championship 3 08/03/08 U.S. Senior Open WON

The cause for celebration was Romero's victory at the Dick's Sporting Goods Open, which took place a month ago on the Champions Tour. After hoisting the U.S. Senior Open trophy, Romero knows the celebration will be twice as rowdy and twice as fun.

"Now I win the U.S. Open, maybe the president come to visit me," Romero said, with a Cheshire cat grin befitting his nickname 'El Gato' (the Cat).

It wasn't the president, but Romero heard from someone closer to his heart immediately following his win at The Broadmoor. Roberto De Vicenzo, the first U.S. Senior Open champion and a fellow Argentine, called and spoke to Romero to congratulate him on his win.

In Spanish, he told Romero that all of the people -- including himself -- were following the tournament and very excited about the outcome.

"And they are still celebrating over there," Romero translated.

Romero is from the same village in Argentina as another U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera. In fact, Romero sponsored Cabrera on the European Tour in the early 2000s and was later rewarded when his friend captured the U.S. Open in 2006.

Both Romero and Cabrera still live in Villa Allende and teach golf in the schools every Friday when they're in town. They've attracted 160 kids and would-be soccer fans -- the most popular sport in South America -- and turned them into golfers. The whole town has gone golf crazy, wanting to talk about his form and his career.

"Everybody is talking about golf. Everybody knows about golf. If you go to the pharmacy, the guy says, 'Eduardo, your grip, your slice,' it is unbelievable," Romero said. "It is a little village like St. Andrews. Everybody knows about golf, everybody."

Romero began caddying in Villa Allende at the age of seven. His father, a club professional who passed away five years ago, taught him everything about the game.

"We played golf in Argentina, just across the street and the golf course was there. We played only Monday because the caddies played Monday because the course is closed on Monday in Argentina," Cabrera said.

It was on those Mondays that Romero honed the game that would bring him to the European Tour, the PGA TOUR and later the Champions Tour. He's won 93 times around the world, including two majors on the Champions Tour, but considers his win at the U.S. Senior Open the most special.

"One of the best trophies in my career, one of the best," he said simply. "I won nine tournaments in Europe and win 85 tournaments in South America, and then this is the more important tournament, of course."

The win, though, came in an anti-climactic way. He hobbled into the clubhouse, shooting a 3-over par 73 complete with four consecutive bogeys on the back nine from Nos. 11-14.

Romero took advantage of his length off the tee -- he's ranked third on the Champions Tour this season in Driving Distance with a 292.1 average -- and navigated The Broadmoor four times in 274 strokes, enough to beat Fred Funk by four.

While he readily admits that putting has never been the strongest facet of his game, Romero recently switched to an Odyssey White Hot XG # 3 putter. His is a 45-inch belly putter that weighs maybe half a kilo.

It's not the dimensions, though, that have him talking. After switching to the new putter in late May at the Senior PGA Championship, it's completely restored his confidence and improved his game for the better.

"I think the new putter changed my life," said Romero, who's won two times in the seven events since and finished third at the Senior British Open. "I started using the new putter. Before, I used the short putter, but when I started the new putter, it was completely different player."

Romero also credits yoga -- a passion of his for a decade -- with improving his performance on and off the course. Normally a fast player -- Romero said it's the Argentine way to go up to the tee, find a line and hit it quickly -- he was also quick to lose his concentration if things started to go downhill.

On Sunday, Romero said he felt more pressure than he'd ever felt in a tournament coming down the final stretch.

"I'm scary. I tell you. My legs go; my legs!" he said of his walk up the 18th fairway.

But Romero maintained his cool, practiced his calming exercises and walked away the 2008 U.S. Senior Open champion. The 54-year-old also walked away with 940 Charles Schwab Cup points, enough to move him into third place.

"The dream is coming true, but, well, this is very important, very important. I don't know how to say, because I'm still excited. I'm still shaking," Romero said.

"I win the tournament, I take the trophy home, two U.S. Opens now in Argentina. Cabrera won the U.S. Open and then I won this one, it's fantastic. Very nice for the Argentine golfers, for South America, for the young golfers, for everybody."

Now it's time to laugh and celebrate with him, Argentina.