Less than a week before his return to the Masters, Angel Cabrera has won his maiden PGA Tour Champions event.
The Argentinian, who won the Augusta National Major in 2009, was playing in just his third event on the over-50s circuit this year at the James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational. However, if he had any rustiness, it didn’t show after the second round when he held a two-shot lead over Alex Cjeka with one round to play.
The 55-year-old carded rounds of 68 and 66 in the opening two days at Broken Sound Club in Florida, and while he wasn’t quite as consistent on Sunday, his 71, which included three birdies and two bogeys, was enough to get him over the line, with 2024 Senior Open champion K.J. Choi his nearest challenger two shots further back.
Afterwards, Cabrera said: “It’s very emotional after everything that I've gone through the last couple of years. Winning again is something that means a lot to me. Obviously, it was a hard battle out there.”
The win was Cabrera’s first in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event since he lifted the trophy in the Greenbrier Classic in 2014.
Cabrera’s career was put on hold in 2021 when he began a jail sentence after he was found guilty of domestic abuse against two former partners. He was released in August 2023, and four months later, he finished T10 at the Abierto del Litoral on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica Developmental Series as he attempted to get his career back on track.
In February 2024, he played in his first PGA Tour-sanctioned event since his release, the PGA Tour Champions’ Trophy Hassan II, where he finished T27.
Cabrera, who has a lifetime exemption to The Masters thanks to his 2009 win, then suffered a setback when he wasn’t able to appear in the 2024 edition after he was denied a US visa.
However, by the end of May last year, he had gained his visa, with his longtime coach and friend, Charlie Epps, telling Golfweek at the time that he intended to move to Houston permanently and continue his career on the PGA Tour Champions.
Now with the winning feeling back, Cabrera can head to Augusta National in good spirits, as he prepares to compete in the Major for the first time since he missed the cut at the 2019 edition.
