GEORGIA, USA: After a long hiatus, Argentine golfer Angel Cabrera is back at the Augusta National with optimism as he steps back at the Masters not just as a past champion but as a man seeking redemption.
The athlete earned his lifetime invitation to the prestigious tournament after his 2009 victory. However, he has not played at Augusta since 2019 because of legal conflicts that led him to Argentina’s Carcel de Bouwer prison, also referred to as “The Prison from Hell”.
Back then, Cabrera was accused of domestic abuse by two former partners. He failed to appear at a required court hearing in 2020 when he chose to compete in a PGA Tour Champions event instead before Interpol issued a red notice and arrested him. He was detained in Brazil and spent four and a half months in Rio de Janeiro, before coming back to Argentina to face his trial.
He was released on parole in 2023 and had the opportunity to play at the 2024 Masters, but he could not get a visa at that time. Now that he’s truly back for this year’s season, Cabrera is looking to move forward and focus on his golfing.
Cabrera as “one of the great champions”
The chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, Fred Ridley, described Cabrera as “one of our great champions”, and Ben Crenshaw, who unofficially hosts the Masters Champions Dinner annually, also extended his support.
Furthermore, according to his longtime coach Charlie Epps, fellow tournament champions Bernhard Langer and Gary Player wrote to Cabrera while he was out. The warm support that Cabrera receives from the Augusta community shows how some people in the sport are willing to give him a second chance.
With this, Cabrera admitted: “I respect their opinion, and everybody has their own opinion, and I respect that… life has given me another opportunity, I’ve got to take advantage of that, and I want to do the right things in this second opportunity.”
A social media post made by The PGA Tour Champions showed Cabrera’s first win of the season at the James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational: “Win No. 1 for Ángel Cabrera 🏆”
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Netizens commented on this post and said: “Warm up for the Masters,” “He got out of jail 1-2 years ago and already back to playing and winning is impressive,” “#Redemption 👏🏽 👏🏽👏🏽,” and “Angel Great Caddie Great player and the Champ A Cabrera 💪🏽🏌🏻♂️⛳️🏆”