Former major champion Angel Cabrera, who spent 30 months in jail in Brazil and Argentina and last played PGA Tour Champions in 2020, shot under par last week in his last five rounds at home in Córdoba, Argentina, and is preparing to mount a comeback, said his longtime coach and friend Charlie Epps.
“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,” Epps told Golfweek via phone. “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, the 2007 U.S. Open champion and 2009 Masters winner, was released from jail on Aug. 4, after he completed more than two years in custody over gender violence cases against two of his ex-girlfriends. (Editor’s Note: Read previous Q&A with Charlie Epps when Cabrera was in jail here.) Brazil’s federal police arrested him on an Interpol warrant in January 2021. Cabrera was sentenced in July 2021 to two years in prison for threats and harassment of Cecilia Torres Mana, his partner between 2016 and 2018.
In November 2022, he was also on trial for similar charges against Micaela Escudero, another ex-girlfriend. Cabrera pleaded guilty and the court made the two sentences concurrent, extending his sentence to three years and 10 months in prison.
“Many say prison is bad, but it’s not the case, prison has done me good,” Cabrera said at the trial.
Prior to his release, he spent his final seven months at Monte Cristo, a minimum-security prison 10 miles east of Córdoba.
Epps said that Cabrera, who last competed on the Champions Tour at the Pure Insurance Open in September 2020, still dreams of playing golf professionally. He is seeking a Visa so he can travel to the U.S. and then will need to apply for reinstatement to PGA Tour Champions, which according to Epps, suspended him, and inquire whether Augusta National will honor his lifetime invitation as a past champion to the Masters in April.
A spokesperson for the PGA Tour released the following statement on Cabrera: “The Tour is aware that Angel Cabrera has been released on parole. While we do not have any update on his status as a PGA Tour member at this time, the Tour may consider new and relevant information to determine if any change to his status is appropriate in the future.”
An inquiry seeking clarification on his status – and the length of his suspension, if…
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