Angel Cabrera breaks silence on Masters return after prison sentence

Angel Cabrera hasn’t played in the Masters since 2019 due to a conviction for domestic assault and intimidation of two former partners.

Cabrera, the 2009 Masters champion, spent 30 months in jail in Brazil and Argentina and was released in August of 2023. Due to an issue with his visa last April, Cabrera could not play in the 2024 Masters, but he is in the field for the 2025 iteration. The PGA Tour suspended Cabrera following his conviction in 2021 but reinstated him when he was released from prison.

The two-time major champion spoke with the Daily Mail this week ahead of his return to Augusta National and opened up on his time in prison and return to golf.

“Right now, I’m fine,” Cabrera told the Daily Mail. “But I regret everything that I have done wrongly in my past. I am also frustrated that I dumped very, very important years of my life. I made mistakes.

“It is one of the worst things that can happen to a human being, not being able to have freedom. The lack of freedom is something really difficult, really hard. And on the other hand, you know, I can tell you that the most important thing I feel right now is the second chance, the opportunity to get back on the right track.”

Cabrera’s legal troubles started in 2016 when his ex-wife, Silva Rivadero, alleged that he physically assaulted her and made verbal threats. Two of Cabrera’s ex-girlfriends also made allegations of domestic violence and physical and verbal abuse. In 2020, right before a court-mandated appearance in Argentina, Cabrera flew to Akron, Ohio, to play in a PGA Tour Champions event. He did not inform the local authorities, which triggered a red notice from Interpol. In January of 2021, Cabrera was arrested by Brazilian officials in Rio de Janeiro. He spent four-and-a-half months in the notorious Plácido de Sá Carvalho prison before he was finally extradited to Argentina in June of 2021 to stand trial for domestic violence, intimidation and theft.

Cabrera was found guilty of two counts of assault against his ex-girlfriend, Cecilia Torres Mana. He spent the next 18 months in Carcel de Bouwer, an Argentina prison nicknamed “The Prison From Hell.”

Cabrera told the Daily Mail that his experience in Carcel de Bouwer was much better than his time in Plácido de Sá Carvalho.

“The people in prison with me, they were mostly older people and educated and so it was a relatively okay environment. It wasn’t a dangerous one,” Cabrera told the Daily Mail, noting that they kept him in a different area of the prison away from the violent gang members that the prison is known to house.

In November of 2022, Cabrera returned to court for another trial and was found guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Micaela Escudero. He was sentenced to a total of two years and four months in prison to be served concurrently.

At the end of 2022, Cabrera was transferred to Monte Cristo, a minimum-security prison where he was allowed to cook his own meals, was given a cell phone and could earn day passes to go home. He was granted an early release despite having other cases still pending. He had to ask for permission to leave his home country of Argentina.

Cabrera spoke with Golf Digest in 2023, admitting he was guilty and is ashamed of his actions.

“I am repentant and embarrassed,” Cabrera told Luis Fernando Llosa. “I made serious mistakes. I refused to listen to anyone and did what I wanted, how I wanted and when I wanted. That was wrong. I ask Micaela for forgiveness. I ask Celia for forgiveness. They had the bad luck of crossing paths with me when I was at my worst. I wasn’t the devil, but I did bad things.”

The Masters has had a few LIV Golf-related absences in the past few years (Phil Mickelson in 2022 and Greg Norman in 2023). But while there are understandably concerns about letting someone found guilty of the crimes Cabrera committed back at golf’s most prestigious tournament, Masters chairman Fred Ridley has said Cabrera is welcome back at the Masters and is one of the tournament’s “great champions.”

“It’s the place every single golfer wants to be,” Cabrera told the Daily Mail of his return to Augusta National.