Former Masters champion poised to resume golf career after 30-month jail term

Former Masters and U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera will continue his return to playing golf after serving a 30-month jail term in Brazil and Argentina for domestic violence and other lesser charges.

According to Golfweek the 54-year-old, who was released in August 2023, plans to move permanently to Houston and resume competing on PGA Tour Champions, as per his longtime coach, Charlie Epps.

Cabrera has played sporadically after returning to the PGA Champions circuit and PGA Tour in December last year was made to do psychological tests at the American Embassy in Buenos Aires before securing a visa.

Cabrera is entered into the American Family Insurance Championship and Dick’s Open. “When I talked to him down there, he had really grown up, he understood what life is all about and that he had really made an ass of himself,” Epps said. “He’s dedicated to golf and he wants to come back. He just needs to get comfortable again playing in competition. I want him to win the U.S. Senior Open.”

READ MORE: Grayson Murray cause of death revealed after golfer’s suicide confirmed by parents

READ MORE: Grayson Murray shared brave mental health message before tragic death aged 30

A spokesperson for PGA Tour Champions confirmed that despite Cabrera being a PGA Tour Champions member, his entry is dependent upon how the field is filled. He is, however, eligible for both restricted and unrestricted sponsor exemptions. Cabrera can also compete in an event qualifier as a past champion.

As a former champion, Cabrera is also welcome back at the Masters. Fred Ridley, the chairman of Augusta National, said: “Angel certainly is one of our great champions. As we all know, he has been unable to participate in the Masters the last couple of years due to legal issues. Presently we have been in constant contact with Angel’s representatives.”

Cabrera expressed his desire to return to Augusta. “It is my dream to return to that prestigious place,” Cabrera, the 2009 winner, said in an interview with Golf Digest. “I played at Augusta for almost 20 years in a row.

“It is like a second home to me. It would be a great privilege to return and attend the champions dinner with so many of the world’s greatest players.”

For all the latest on news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to The Mirror US .

He added: “I was alone in my cell most of the time because my cellmate worked all day. During my last six months at Bouwer, I was completely alone because he got released and no one replaced him. I thought a lot about tournaments I played in, especially when I read about myself in the magazines.

“The older ones had photos of me playing in the U.S. Open and the Masters, as well as in the Presidents Cup, which I played in four times. I’d get nostalgic, but it helped me pass the time.

“I remember nearly every stroke of that Sunday I won the Masters and would replay it in my mind: the playoff, the famous shot I made through the trees.”