by Jeff Skinner
July 4th weekend always brings forth a rush of patriotism and American flags suddenly appear everywhere. The American flags were also quite prominent on top of the leaderboards as play started to close out the Independence Day weekend on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. But as the sun started to set on Sunday evening the Stars and Stripes had been replaced by other banners as the Americans faded from the scene.
It was a tough Sunday for a pair of Americans as Kevin Stadler and Billy Hurley III lost their chances at Fourth of July history.
Stadler led by four strokes at The French Open and stretched it to five strokes early in the round but he lost his game and ballooned to a final round 76. Stadler had been playing the best golf of his career this season as he finally broke through at the Waste Management Open for his first PGA Tour win. He was poised for his second win but struggled mightily all day. 
With Stadler stumbling, defending champion Graeme McDowell played the round of the day and came from eight strokes back for a shocking victory. McDowell had little chance of defending his title at the start of the round but when Stadler went out in 41 GMac was back in contention.
McDowell looks to be finally reaping the rewards of a change in his schedule to allow him to me fresh through the summer and better compete with a very packed schedule as the season runs through the last two majors, FedEx Cup and hopefully the Ryder Cup.
His last top ten on the PGA Tour was back in March at the Arnold Palmer but a T6 at last month’s Scottish Open and this come from behind win are just the signs the Northern Irishman needs to execute his new 2014 plan.
Back on American soil at the Greenbrier Classic a natural storyline had been shaping up all weekend. American and Navy veteran, Billy Hurley III had a two shot lead to start the day and was on the verge of his first PGA Tour win in 59 starts.
Hurley had been the poster boy for the 4th of July all weekend as he inched toward the lead at what they like to call America’s Resort. A veteran of the United States Navy winning on July 4th weekend would have been a captivating story. But Hurley may have been feeling the pressure of the holiday win and struggled from the start. He bogeyed four of his first six holes.
Angel Cabrera, perhaps buoyed by the success of his Argentine National team in the World Cup came from two strokes back to win his first non-major on the PGA Tour.
We’ve seen Cabrera win before in the states at The Masters and the U.S. Open but he usually coasts at regular PGA Tour events. But Sunday in West Virginia was different.
Cabrera drove the ball like a master hitting over 80% of the fairways while averaging 307 yards. He did struggle with bogeys on 14 and 15 but a birdie at 17 and a finishing par at the last gave the 44 year old the title.
It wasn’t a total loss for Hurley who along with George McNeil, Chris Stroud and Cameron Tringale earned spots in the Open Championship next week at Hoylake.
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