Angel Cabrera will return to the Masters next month after serving a 30-month prison sentence for domestic abuse.
Cabrera, who won the Masters in 2009, was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison in July 2021, before being convicted of a second assault in November 2022.
The Argentine golfer was released from prison last August and cleared to play in PGA Tour-sanctioned events in December.
The 54-year-old has recently acquired a US visa. He is eligible to attend the champions’ dinner and play in the tournament as a former winner of the green jacket.
Fred Ridley, chairman of the Georgia course since 2017, said recently that Cabrera would be welcome at golf’s most prestigious event.
“Angel certainly is one of our great champions,” said Ridley at an amateur event in Panama. “As we all know, he has been unable to participate in the Masters the last couple of years due to legal issues.
“We’ll definitely welcome him back if he’s able to straighten out those legal issues.”
Ben Crenshaw, who organises the Champions Dinner, said he is looking forward to seeing Cabrera at the famous meal for the first time since 2019.
“I tell you what, I’m excited to see Angel,” Crenshaw said. “The focus of the dinner will be on Scottie (Scheffler, last year’s winner), but it’ll be great to have Angel back.”
It is customary for all past champions to be invited to play in the annual major, with most accepting and competing.
Cabrera last played in 2019. He was arrested in Rio de Janeiro in early 2021 having left Argentina without authorisation while awaiting trial on a number of criminal charges.
The golfer expressed remorse for making “serious mistakes” in an interview with Golf Digest magazine last year, admitting that he had behaved wrongly towards former partners Cecilia Torres Mana and Micaela Escudero.
