Cabrera’s return has sparked controversy, with some criticizing his participation while others, including Gary Player, have offered support.
He recently won the PGA Tour Champions’ James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational, his first win in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event in nearly 11 years.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Angel Cabrera is back on the hallowed grounds of Augusta National to play in his 21st Masters.
That sentence is going to make some people squirm. And others angry.
Cabrera, 55, spent more than two years in prison in Argentina for domestic violence abuse, pleading guilty to charges that included intimidation and harassment of his former girlfriends. He was released in August 2023 and cleared to play in PGA Tour-sanctioned events four months later.
Like the Masters.
Cabrera has a lifetime exemption into the Masters as 2009 champion, winning in a three-way playoff with Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell. He was unable to play in 2024 because of visa issues.
Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley said last year the club would welcome back “one of our great champions” when asked about Cabrera.
When Cabrera was asked Tuesday if he believes he ‘belongs’ at Augusta he said: ‘I won the Masters, why not?’
Cabrera, who also won the 2007 U.S. Open, arrived Monday after winning PGA Tour Champions’ James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational, Sunday in Boca Raton, Florida. He started refamiliarizing himself with the course Tuesday.
‘Life has given me another opportunity, I got to take advantage of that and I want to do the right things in this second opportunity,’ Cabrera, who returns to Augusta for the first time sine 2019, said through an interpreter.
Cabrera’s victory Sunday at Broken Sound was his first in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event in nearly 11 years. He’s played in 13 Tour Champions events since being released.
Cabrera was arrested in Rio de Janeiro after leaving Argentina illegally following the start of a trial where he faced charges of assault, theft and illegal intimidation. He served 30 months for “causing minor injuries” and “intimidation in a gender-violence context.” According to GolfDigest, Cabrera apologized to the women in the courtroom and paid significant settlements.
‘There was a stage in my life of four, five years that they weren’t the right things I should have done,’ he said. ‘Before that I was okay, so I just have to keep doing what I know I can do right.
‘I regret things that happened and you learn from them. But at the same time those are in the past and we have to look forward what’s coming.’
What’s coming is a second chance, in life and golf. And Cabrera understands he will not be welcomed by all.
A co-founder of Reclaim These Streets, a women’s rights group and social justice organization in the UK, spoke out against Cabrera being welcomed back to professional golf.
‘It seems as long as male athletes can excel at hitting a ball, we excuse those same men hitting women,’ Jamie Klingler told the BBC.
Some golf fans do not want Angel Cabrera playing in the Masters
Cabrera was asked about those who object to him participating in the Masters.
‘I respect their opinion and everybody has their own opinion and I respect that,’ he said.
Cabrera is grateful for the reception he has received from those in the golf world this week.
‘(They) are very great with me and I just appreciated the way they treated me,’ he said after playing a practice round with Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas. ‘The family of golf, they’re great colleagues and I missed them. I just want to have a great time with them.’
One of those is three-time Masters champion Gary Player. Cabrera has spoken about the support he received from Player while he was incarcerated and said the Jupiter Island resident was the first to greet him Monday.
‘He’s always been in contact with me, always been by my side,’ Cabrera said. ‘He wanted to give me advice that things were going to happen and things would get better, and that’s what’s happened.’
Cabrera will attend Tuesday night’s Masters Champions Dinner, hosted by Scottie Scheffler. He tees off at 10:59 a.m. Thursday in a group that includes Laurie Canter and Adam Schenk.
Cabrera was asked about his golf, and how Augusta suits his game.
‘I don’t know if I’m exactly my game’s back technically,’ he said. ‘I just started to practice a lot and get ready for this moment.
‘It’s obviously playing longer, I don’t have that distance that I used to have, but you never know. It’s the Masters, anything can happen.’
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.