1 week Ago By The Independent
It is one of the great traditions of the Masters and will bring emotional scenes at August National this week. Former champions and winners of the green jacket receive a lifetime exemption for future tournaments, free to turn up year after year and walk the iconic course until they call it quits. Bernhard Langer, now 67, will be playing the Masters for the 41st and final time this week.
With no expectations of contending, it is the feeling of stepping inside the ropes along the immaculate fairways that he will miss the most. “I'm expecting it to be very difficult emotionally,” he said. It is the return of another former champion, though, that has asked more difficult questions of the lifetime exemption rule ahead of this year’s Masters, as Angel Cabrera, winner of the green jacket in 2009 , makes his first appearance at Augusta National in six years and since his release from prison.
Cabrera spent a total of 30 months behind bars in Brazil and Argentina after he was convicted of domestic abuse charges . He was sentenced to two years in prison in July 2021 for assaulting, threatening and harassing a former partner, before he was convicted of a second assault against another ex-girlfriend. He was released on parole in August 2023.
Now Cabrera, 55, is back at the Masters. The Argentinian has acknowledged he made “serious mistakes” and said he is embarrassed by his past behaviour. He has been remorseful on his return to Augusta but his appearance at the Masters has been criticised by women’s rights groups and there are some who say his lifetime exemption to play at the Masters should have been revoked.
The group Reclaim These Streets were one of those to condemn Cabrera’s return. “It seems as long as male athletes can excel at hitting a ball, we excuse those same men hitting women, because the trophies they win are valued more than his victim’s life,” said its co-founder Jamie Klingler. Speaking at this pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday, Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley defended Cabrera’s place at the Masters as a former champion.
“Well, we certainly abhor domestic violence of any type,” Ridley said. “As it relates to Angel, Angel has served the sentence that was prescribed by the Argentine courts, and he is a past champion, and so he was invited.” Ridley had previously said Cabrera would be “welcomed back” as one of the tournament’s “great champions” after his release from prison and it was only issues relating to acquiring a US visa that stopped the former US Open winner from appearing last year.
He had already been cleared to return to the PGA champions tour, and even won his first event since his release at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational in Florida on Sunday. Cabrera took his seat at the traditional Masters Champions Dinner on Tuesday evening after spending 15 minutes with reporters in Augusta, where he was challenged on whether he should be playing this week. “I won the Masters, why not?” Cabrera said.
“I respect their opinion and everybody has their own opinion and I respect that. Life has given me another opportunity, I've got to take advantage of that and I want to do the right things in this second opportunity.” Fellow players are pleased to see Cabrera back at Augusta after six years.
Adam Scott, who defeated Cabrera in a play-off to win the Masters in 2013, said he would be “thrilled” to see Cabrera at the Champions Dinner. "I can't wait,” the Australian said. “It's a happy thing for me.
We've got a fairly long history.” Ben Cranshaw, a two-time Masters champion who now hosts the annual meal and meeting of former winners said: “I’m excited to see Angel”. Cabrera did not touch a set of golf clubs in three years while he was in prison.
He admitted he was worried that he would never be able to get back into his old swing but was surprised with how the rhythm returned on the range. He has also undergone treatment for alcohol addiction and told Golf Digest that he took part in therapy while in prison. “I refused to listen to anyone and did what I wanted, how I wanted and when I wanted,” he said in an interview after his release.
Cabrera also asked his former partners 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.
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