Angel Cabrera, a former Masters champion, got out of prison on Aug. 4 after serving a 30-month sentence in Brazil and Argentina. Now, he is back on the golf course in his home country, gearing up for a possible return.
He last played a competitive round in 2020 at the Champions Tour’s Pure Insurance Open. But that burning desire to play competitive golf still burns.
“He wants to play, he’s learned his lesson, he wants to get on with his life. I think he’s in a great frame of mind for what he’s been through,” Cabrera’s friend Charlie Epps told Golfweek. “He’s got to go through the mechanics of getting his Visa back and then approach the PGA Tour, and I think it’s going to end up being good.”
Cabrera recently shot under par in his last five rounds with Epps at his home course in Córdoba, Argentina.
The 54-year-old spent more than two years behind bars over gender violence cases against two ex-girlfriends. He was arrested in Jan. 2021 by the Brazilian federal police and was sentenced in July 2021 to two years in prison. That charge was for the threats and harassment of Cecilia Torres Mana, one of his partners, between 2016 and 2018.
Following that case, Cabrera went on trial for similar charges, but this time, it came from ex-girlfriend Micaela Escudero in Nov. 2022. The 2007 U.S. Open Champion pleaded guilty, and the court issued concurrent sentences for his 2021 charges to imprison him for three years and 10 months.
However, Cabrera only served a little over two years before getting paroled.
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His friend suggested that Cabrera still has plans to play professional golf.
Cabrera must apply for reinstatement to the PGA Tour Champions, who have allegedly suspended him. The 2009 Masters champion will also contact Augusta National to see if it will honor his lifetime invitation as a past winner.
“The way Angel plays on hard courses, I think he can still win the U.S. Senior Open,” Epps said. “I want him to be the comeback player of the year.”
Will Cabrera be allowed back on tour, or will his crimes prevent him from making a comeback?
He has lost weight and is in good spirits since being granted parole. A timeline on when he will return to professional golf is unsure, but the Argentinian golfer eager to make that happen.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
