Former Masters Champion Angel Cabrera will be back at Augusta National next week, returning after 30 months in a South American prison, but no one other than Cabrera himself is more grateful or excited than his longtime teacher, mentor and friend, Charlie Epps.
The Texas golf professional grew up at Cabrera’s home club in Argentina and has known the Masters and U.S. Open Champion almost his whole life, including their Masters victory together in 2009 and the months Cabrera spent in a small, dark prison cell after being convicted of assaulting multiple ex-girlfriends.
“He is the toughest guy I’ve ever known and he said what got him through prison was the memories of his many tournaments and many wins,” Epps said.
At age 81, Epps is physically unable to make the trip to Augusta next week, but he has stayed in constant contact with his prized student and will host him in Houston later this month for a Champions Tour event.
"Golf is all he has left,” Epps said. “But he has a second chance and a chance to make money now. He knows that course and knows those memories. He will be fine.”
Epps said he will be fine watching every shot on TV next week, but the memories they have shared together still linger.
He walked every step of the hilly ground at Augusta National Golf Club in April 2009, when Cabrera defeated Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry in a tense playoff to capture the Masters title.
From the SI Vault: Last Man Standing: Angel Cabrera Wins 2009 Masters
“We were in his rented house together at 2 a.m. where we had our own green jacket ceremony, where he put the green jacket on my shoulders for the win. I still remember every minute and it still brings tears,” Epps said.
Cabrera allowed Epps to serve an exact replica of his Masters Champions dinner in 2010 to raise money for a Houston First Tee program at Epp’s Texas club as another way to say thank you.
Epps was there for his friend in January 2021 when Cabrera was first arrested in Argentina, leading to a series of trials and ultimately, jail time. Epps said those who know the golfer known as El Pato, (the Duck) never forgot him.
“Gary Player wrote him a letter while he was in prison, so did Bernard Langer. He has so many friends in the golf world.”
When Cabrea was finally released back into society in the fall of 2023, Epps contacted John Solheim, CEO of Ping Golf, a longtime Cabrera sponsor, and brought a new set of Ping clubs to his friend in Argentina, the first time he had touched new clubs in almost three years.
“We greeted and hugged and cried and celebrated,” Epps said. “He is back doing what he does.”
Since then, Masters Chairman Fred Ridley has said Cabrera would be welcomed back to Augusta as a, ‘true champion,” and recently Ben Crenshaw who serves as the unofficial host of the Tuesday champions dinner said he was excited to have him at the dinner and would welcome him personally.
Back in Texas, Epps, who recently finished his career golf autobiography with a long chapter on Cabrera, is doing everything he can to make him feel right at home in his new life.
Before his prison stint, Epps helped Cabrera sell his large Houston home, and is now in the process of helping him look for a smaller one. He has arranged for an upscale hotel stay when he is playing later this month at the Woodlands, just north of the city, during his Champions tournament.
“I just want to help him in business and in golf and in life,” said Epps. “He has said prison was good for him. It helped him in many different ways.”
Asked if Cabrera was excited about his Masters return, Epps deadpanned, “as excited as he can get.”
But he later added, “He is full of joy, he is so mentally strong. That's one reason why he won, you know, and his record there is pretty darn good." In addition to his win, Cabrera also lost to Adam Scott in a 2013 playoff.
From their humble beginning at Córdoba Country Club, in Cordoba, Argentina to the heights of golf’s professional world, Epps and Cabrera worked together and next week, one will watch the other make an unprecedented Masters comeback.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as 'Golf Is All He Has Left': Angel Cabrera Is Out of Prison and Ready For Return to Masters.
