Augusta, Georgia
Cnn
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The Argentinian golfer Angel Cabrera has been absent for some time, but he returns to Augusta National this week with a spring in his step, as a winning golfer in search of a warm embrace.
Despite the life invitation which accompanied his triumph of Masters in 2009, Cabrera has not been here since 2019. Instead, he serves an hour at the notorious of Carcel de Bouwer prison in Argentina, an establishment nicknamed “the prison of hell”.
According to the Associated Press. When he jumped a court appearance in Argentina to play a PGA Tour Champions in Ohio event in 2020, he sparked a red opinion from Interpol, and was then arrested in Brazil. Cabrera spent four and a half months at the infamous Placido prison from her Carvalho to Rio de Janeiro before being extradited to be tried in Argentina.
Fred Ridley, president of the Augusta National Golf Club, described Cabrera as “one of our big champions”, and Ben Crenshaw, the unofficial host of the traditional champions dinner who has a seat at the table for Cabrera, said that he was delighted to have it and will welcome him personally, according to Golfweek.
The fallout from Cabrera crimes persist. Even after being imprisoned for having abused her former girlfriend Cecilia Torres Mana in 2021, she said that she and her family were still afraid of the double major champion. In a story written in the first person, Mana detailed the misery she endured in Orato in the first person, saying that during their relationship, Cabrera “abused me physically, psychologically and sexually”.
Mana wrote that Cabrera would strike her if she refused her requests and that he followed her in public because he was paranoid that she saw someone else. She accused him of having locked her in a closet when they were in Texas for a tournament, saying that he controlled her movements and forbade her to see her dying mother, and he threatened his security if she ever dared to leave him, according to the history of Orato 2021. Cabrera previously denied the allegations, but in an interview in 2023, said that he had “committed error.
Having also been found guilty of threats and harassment of another ex-girlfriend in 2022, Cabrera served 30 months behind bars in Brazil and Argentina before being released in 2023. He could have played Augusta the following April, but he could not obtain a time travel visa. According to his longtime coach Charlie Epps, the former champions of the masters Bernhard Langer and Gary Player wrote in Cabrera while he was imprisoned and now the Augusta community welcomes him in the fold.
For many years, Augusta National has been accused of dragging her heels with progressive questions, but a change of management in the past 15 years means that the club is now an influential leader in one of the most traditional sports in the world. In 2012, Condoleeza Rice and Darla Moore became the first members of the club, and since 2019, she welcomed the national tournament of the Augusta Women’s Amateur. But the masters now seem impatiently welcoming a man found guilty of crimes against several women.
Speaking on Tuesday to a translator on his return to Augusta, Cabrera responded to concerns about his participation.
“I respect their opinion, and everyone has their own opinion, and I respect this,” he said, adding: “Life gave me another opportunity, I have to take advantage of it, and I want to do the right things in this second opportunity.”
Speaking in a press herd specifically on the fact that he should be able to play again in the tournament, he replied frankly: “I won the masters, why not?”
Ridley told the media that he had defended Cabrera’s right to play, with a warning.
“We certainly disturb domestic violence of any type,” he said. “Regarding Angel, Angel has served the sentence prescribed by the Argentinian courts, and he is the last champion, and he was therefore invited.”
Cabrera himself has already expressed remorse, telling the Digest golf in 2023 that he had asked for his former partners.
“They were unlucky to cross the paths with me when I was at worst,” he said. “I was not the devil, but I did bad things. … I refused to listen to someone and I did what I wanted and when I wanted.
Cabrera also deplored the personal cost, saying to the Daily Mail: “I regret everything I wrongly did in my past. I am also frustrated to have threw very important years in my life. ”
Nicknamed El Pato – The Duck – Due to his dandoning approach, Cabrera spoke about the difficulties of his incarceration, and he hopes to make the most of his second chance. According to Sports Illustrated, Cabrera did not affect a golf club during his stay in prison, but at the age of 55, he won again.
On the eve of his return from the masters, Cabrera won the James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational in Florida on Sunday, his first victory on the senior Champions Tour and his first significant victory anywhere for almost 11 years. He could only compete on the field because another player withdrew from the tournament.
The last three times that Cabrera played the masters, he missed the cup and disappeared on the weekend. But it is also a course on which he was a considerable success: six top ten, including a victory and a defeat in the playoffs. If he plays well this week again, his name probably will have an excessive importance in the ranking, just like his story. Opinion would surely be divided to find out if it was a return that deserves to be celebrated.
