Cabrera welcome at Masters if he can get visa

The Masters is open to having Angel Cabrera return to Augusta National Golf Club if the past champion can obtain a visa after legal issues kept him from participating for the past four years.

Cabrera, who won the Grand Slam event in 2009, has been denied a visa after serving 30 months in prison for assaults on two former girlfriends. The Argentine golfer also faced theft and illegal intimidation charges after he was arrested in Brazil in January 2021.

He was released from custody in August and was cleared to play in PGA Tour-sanctioned events in December.

Cabrera, 54, is set to play in a PGA Tour Champions event in Morocco, where he doesn’t need a visa, Feb. 22-24. He also is entered in a Korn Ferry Tour event in Argentina one week later. Golfweek reported that Cabrera has an invitation to play at the Insperity Invitational outside Houston in May, should he obtain a visa.

He has not played at the Masters for four years.

“Presently we have been in constant contact with Angel’s representatives,” Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley told reporters at the Latin America Amateur Championship in Panama. “… He doesn’t have a visa, and I know that that process is being worked through. We certainly wish him the best of luck with that, and we’ll definitely welcome him back if he’s able to straighten out those legal issues.”

Cabrera has three career wins on the PGA Tour, including the 2007 U.S. Open. He lost the 2013 Masters in a playoff against Adam Scott and also has two wins on the European Tour.

Field Level Media contributed to this report.