Tag: Angel Cabrera

Angel Cabrera still lurking at Carnoustie as K.J. Choi, Richard Green lead Senior Open

“So my caddie say, okay, tomorrow, no mistake.”

Angel Cabrera’s return to competitive golf has gone swimmingly thus far.

Cabrera, 54, was in prison in Brazil and Argentina for more than two years for domestic violence and other charges. In May, he was granted a visa. In June, he made his PGA Tour Champions return in Wisconsin. Two weeks after that, he won a match play event in England, his first professional victory after four years away from the game.

But now, he’s contending at a major, as his 70 in Saturday’s third round of the Senior Open Championship left him just five shots behind K.J. Choi heading into the final round of play.

Cabrera struggled a bit on the front with a pair of bogeys and a single birdie, but after the turn he caught fire, posting a 33 on the back to move into fifth place at 3 under for the tournament. Choi sits at 8 under while Richard Green (7 under), Arjun Atwal (6 under) and Paul Broadhurst (4 under) are ahead of him.

As a past winner on the PGA Tour, Cabrera is a PGA Tour Champions member, but his entry into a field is dependent upon how the field is filled, according to a spokesperson for PGA Tour Champions. As a major championship winner, he is eligible for both restricted and unrestricted sponsor exemptions, and there is no limit to the number of sponsor exemptions he can receive. He also is exempt to compete in an event qualifier as a past champion on the PGA Tour.

Meanwhile, Choi is in position to capture the first major of his illustrious career. The eight-time PGA Tour winner overcame a rough stretch on the back nine Saturday, but posted a birdie on the final hole to regain the lead.

“Today, a couple shot mistake and then more worse than yesterday, last two days,” Choi said. “So my caddie say, okay, tomorrow, no mistake. So we make birdie. Make try on the irons. It’s a good sign today and happy with round.”

KJ Choi leads Senior British Open, Angel Cabrera is five shots back after 36 holes at Carnoustie

Choi is the only golfer in the field with two sub-70 rounds.

KJ Choi has a pair of 69s at Carnoustie Golf Links this week, the only golfer in the field at the 2024 Senior Open with two sub-70 rounds. In fact, he has two of the just eight rounds in the 60s so far out of the 304 scores that have been posted over two days at the Scottish links.

Choi has the solo lead at six under, up two on the field halfway through the final senior men’s major of 2024.

Choi bogeyed the 18th hole for a second day in a row but offset three overall second-round bogeys with four birdies and an eagle on the par-5 12th hole.

Choi, 54, hasn’t won a senior tour event since 2020 and has never won a major on any tour but he’s in good position now to break that streak.

Meanwhile, the comeback story of Angel Cabrera continues. Cabrera, 54, was in prison in Brazil and Argentina 2 ½ years for domestic violence and other lesser charges. In May, he was granted a visa. In June, he made his PGA Tour Champions return in Wisconsin. Two weeks after that, he won a match play event in England, his first professional victory after four years away from the game.

Now, he’s contending at a major. He opened with a 73 but posted a 1-under 70 on Friday to climb into a tie for sixth. He’s one of just nine golfers in the field under par after 36 holes.

Stephen Ames is solo second at 4 under. Richard Green and Padraig Harrington are tied for third at 3 under. Miguel Angel Martin is solo fifth at 2 under. Cabrera is in a group of five golfers tied for sixth at 1 under, alongside Darren Clarke, Peter Baker, Arjun Atwal and Paul Broadhurst, who became a viral hit in the first round after whiffing on a putt from two inches away from the cup.

Three golfers are tied for 11th at even par: Bernhard Langer, Steven Alker and Thomas Bjorn, who will serve as a vice captain for the European Ryder Cup team in 2025.

The cut came in at 7 over. Among those not advancing to the weekend include Justin Leonard, Tim Herron, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jerry Kelly.

Angel Cabrera wins for the first time since release from prison

Cabrera had a nearly four-year absence from professional golf.

Angel Cabrera, released from prison 10 months ago, is back in the winner’s circle in professional golf.

Cabrera outlasted James Kingston 3 and 1 in the final of the Paul Lawrie Match Play at Hanbury Manor in Hertfordshire, England, on the Legends Tour.

The two-time major winner, Cabrera was jailed in Brazil and later extradited to Argentina on charges of assault, theft and legal intimidation of his former partner. He not only was convicted on those charges, but also on a separate 2022 assault charge on a another former partner. It all led to a nearly four-year absence from professional golf.

Cabrera competed on the PGA Tour Champions last week, his first round in the United States since September 2020.

Sunday, the 54-year-old was the last man standing in a field that featured five major champions. In the final, things were knotted up when Cabrera won the 15th and 16th holes to go 2 up with two to go.

Kingston conceded the match on the 17th hole after thinning one out of a bunker.

“I’m very happy. I worked hard in the last three months, very hard for this. Now, for this moment, I enjoyed it,” Cabrera said. “I had to concentrate and play hole-by-hole. I like to play match play, you know, we don’t play a lot of match play. I can say I feel very emotional now.”

Boo Weekley, who sometimes drives U-Hauls to tournaments, co-leads American Family Insurance Championship

Weekley is seeking his first PGA Tour Champions victory.

Boo Weekley, who drove a U-Haul to last week’s PGA Tour Champions event in Iowa, is co-leading this week’s American Family Insurance Championship after Friday’s first round.

Weekley, seeking his first Champions tour win in his 19th start, shot a 4-under 68. He had three birdies in a row early on Nos. 2, 3 and 4 and then closed with a birdie to tie Glen Day after one round at University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wisconsin.

During an interview at Wakonda Club in Des Moines last week while fishing at the golf course, Weekly explained how they couldn’t get a rental car out of Michigan after the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

“We got to looking around,” he said in his unique Southern drawl. “And finally, me and my old gal said ‘Let’s just get a U-Haul’ and I started laughing.”

“That ain’t my first U-Haul experience,” he added.

Steve Stricker, the Madison native who is back defending his title, is tied for third with fellow Wisconsinite Jerry Kelly at 3 under. In fact, there’s a six-way tie for third, along with David Duval, Lee Janzen, Duffy Waldorf and Thomas Bjorn.

Stricker, also the tournament host, felt he struck the ball well enough to have gone 5 or 6 under but couldn’t make enough putts before finishing with a 3-under 69.

“It was a challenge,” Stricker said. “I mean, the wind was gusty, the greens were super fast, the ball was moving around once you putted it, you know, the wind would take it. That was the hard part probably is getting a good feel on the greens. Some of them could really get away from you and one did on me on, especially on 17. I was able to make it coming back. You really had to be careful not just running it by 8, 10 feet on some of these downwind putts.”

Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journdal Sentinel contributed to this article.

Angel Cabrera granted a visa, set to return to U.S. with plan to play PGA Tour Champions

“He’s dedicated to golf and he wants to come back. He just needs to get comfortable again playing in competition.”

Argentina’s Angel Cabrera’s comeback is officially ready for takeoff as the two-time major winner secured a visa last week.

Charlie Epps, his longtime coach, confidante and friend, confirmed that Cabrera can now travel to the U.S. – and plans to move permanently to Houston – and resume competing on PGA Tour Champions.

Cabrera, 54, served 30 months in prison in Brazil and Argentina for domestic violence and other lesser charges. His visa expired in January and according to Epps, the American Embassy in Buenos Aires made him take a series of psychological tests.

“That was the delay,” Epps said. It prevented him from competing in April in the Masters, where he is eligible as the 2009 champion, but it should pave the way for his return next year.

“Angel certainly is one of our great champions,” Masters chairman Fred Ridley said at a press conference in January. “As we all know, he has been unable to participate in the Masters the last couple of years due to legal issues. Presently we have been in constant contact with Angel’s representatives. He presently is not able to enter the United States. 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 made a few starts here and there since his release from jail but can now begin a full comeback in earnest. Cabrera was reinstated on the PGA Champions Tour and the PGA Tour in December last year. He played in the Trophy Hassan II, a Champions Tour event in Morocco in February, and finished T-27. He missed the cut at the Argentine Open, a Korn Ferry Tour-sanctioned event, in March. Most recently in May, he played in Barbados in a Legends Tour event, formerly known as the European Seniors Tour, and finished T-11. His last competitive tournament in the U.S. was at the Pure Insurance Championship at Pebble Beach in September 2020.

More: After parole from jail, Angel Cabrera dreams of a comeback on PGA Tour Champions — but will he be given a chance?

As a past winner on the PGA Tour, Cabrera is a PGA Tour Champions member, but his entry into a field is dependent upon how the field is filled, according to a spokesperson for PGA Tour Champions. As a major championship winner, he is eligible for both restricted and unrestricted sponsor exemptions, and there is no limit to the number of sponsor exemptions he can receive. He also is exempt to compete in an event qualifier as a past champion on the PGA Tour. An email to his longtime manager Manuel Tagle asking for Cabrera’s future plans wasn’t returned.

Cabrera is entered into the next two senior events, American Family Insurance Championship and Dick’s Open. He’s currently on the alternate list for both. Anything past that would be too far to forecast for player commitments.

“When I talked to him down there, he had really grown up, he understood what life is all about and that he had really made an ass of himself,” Epps said in a phone interview. “He’s dedicated to golf and he wants to come back. He just needs to get comfortable again playing in competition. I want him to win the U.S. Senior Open.”

Like the Masters, that quest will have to wait until next year. The deadline for entry into the U.S. Senior Open was May 1 at 5 p.m. ET and Cabrera failed to file for entry.

Tiger Woods officially registered for 2024 Masters; past champion Angel Cabrera visa denied

The Masters field is currently at 85 players.

Past champions Tiger Woods is officially listed in the 2024 Masters field, and Angel Cabrera is officially out.

Woods, a five-time Masters winner most recently in 2019, is officially listed on the entry list for competitors on the tournament website and in the latest update to the Masters app, which went live Wednesday. Woods’s participation was expected as he has made clear his intention to build his schedule around the four majors ever since being involved in a car crash in February 2021 that required multiple surgeries and nearly led to the amputation of his right leg.

But Woods, 48, has played just one full competitive round in the lead up to the Masters, withdrawing after six holes from the second round of the Genesis Invitational in February citing the flu. He played in the one-day Seminole Pro-Member in early March but elected not to play either the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he has won eight times, or the Players Championship last week, the Tour’s flagship event and where he’s a two-time champion. Woods, who is making his 26th Masters appearance, survived the 36-hole cut at the Masters last year to tie a record with Gary Player and Fred Couples for most consecutive tournament cuts made with 23. Woods withdrew Saturday, stating he aggravated his plantar fasciitis.

Cabrera, the 2009 Masters champion, hasn’t competed in the Masters since 2019. The 54-year-old Argentine, who also won the 2007 U.S. Open, was sentenced in July 2021 to two years in prison for threats and harassment to his partner, but was released late last year and last month competed in his first PGA Tour Champions event in Morocco, finishing T-27. He has been listed on the tournament website as “a past champion, not playing,” though he is eligible to compete in the field as is custom to past champions.

Speaking to Golf Digest after his release from jail, he said memories of his victory at the Masters helped him pull through while serving time.

“I remember nearly every strokes of that Sunday I won the Masters and would replay it in my mind: the playoff, the famous shot I made through the trees,” he said.

“It’s my dream to return to that prestigious place and walk the course that gave me so much joy and satisfaction,” he said, calling it like a second home. “It would be a great privilege to return and to attend the Champions Dinner with so many of the golf world’s greatest players.”

Speaking during a press conference at the Latin America Amateur Championship in Panama in January, Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Fred Ridley said Cabrera would be welcomed back with one caveat.

“Angel certainly is one of our great champions,” Ridley said. “As we all know, he has been unable to participate in the Masters the last couple of years due to legal issues. Presently we have been in constant contact with Angel’s representatives. He presently is not able to enter the United States. 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.”

Golfweek has learned Cabrera’s visa has been temporarily declined.

“More information has been requested and will be provided to the embassy shortly. Final decision on the visa will take no less than 8 to 10 weeks. He will not be at The Masters,” Cabrera’s longtime agent, Manuel Tagle, wrote in an email to Golfweek.

The Masters field is currently at 85 players. The first men’s major of the year runs April 11-14.

Ricardo Gonzalez wins Trophy Hassan II in Morocco, Angel Cabrera T-27 in PGA Tour Champions return

He’s the fourth player from Argentina to win on the PGA Tour Champions. 

Across four PGA Tour-sanctioned tours, Ricardo Gonzalez had made 38 starts during his career, surviving the cut 28 times. He had recorded six top-10 finishes and made nearly $350,000.

On Saturday, he finally broke through.

The 54-year-old Argentinian shot 3-under 70 at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Morocco to win Trophy Hassan II on the PGA Tour Champions, his 13th start on the circuit. He did so with his son on the bag.

Gonzalez finished at 10 under, one stroke in front of Thomas Bjorn, who carded a 4-under 69 on Saturday. Y.E. Yang, a co-leader heading into the final round, finished T-3 at 7 under along with Mark Hensby.

Gonzalez is the fourth player from Argentina to win on the PGA Tour Champions.

“Very happy and very emotional,” Gonzalez said. “I worked so much to be here, and this is my trophy. I like that.”

After a bogey on the par-5 12th, Gonzalez had four straight birdies on Nos. 13-16 to take the lead and secure the victory. He earned $320,000 for his victory and moves to No. 3 in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.

Stephen Ames, the event’s defending champion and last week’s winner at the Chubb Classic, finished T-16.

In his return to the PGA Tour Champions, fellow Argentinian Angel Cabrera finished T-27, with his best round of the week coming Saturday with a 3-under 70.

Angel Cabrera of Argentina in action during the final round of the Trophy Hassan II at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam on February 24, 2024 in Rabat. (Photo by Phil Inglis/Getty Images)

Cabrera, the 2009 Masters champion, has been working on obtaining a visa to return to the United States and continue playing golf. He did not need a visa to travel from Argentina to Morocco for this week’s event.

“While competing in the Masters again is a dream, securing a visa is Angel’s priority at the moment so he can resume his professional career,” Cabrera’s manager Manuel Tagle wrote in an email to Golfweek last month. “We are working on getting an appointment with the U.S. Embassy in Argentina. Probably early March as his visa has expired January 2024.”

John Daly shoots 87, Angel Cabrera T-39 after two rounds in Morocco on PGA Tour Champions

Good scores have been hard to come by this week.

John Daly had to withdraw last week after injuring his left hand, but he’s back in action this week on the PGA Tour Champions, which is in Morocco for the Trophy Hassan II.

Perhaps the hand is still a bit tender, as Daly slogged his way around Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat, Morocco, to the tune of a 14-over 87. His scorecard showed seven bogeys, two doubles and a quad. He did close with a birdie but is last in the 66-man field at 17 over.

Angel Cabrera is tied for 39th after two rounds. Playing in his first event on the Champions tour since getting out of prison, Cabrera shot 79-72 and is beating 21 others after Friday’s second round.

Good scores have been hard to come by this week. With 132 rounds played so far, there have been only eight rounds in the 60s. Meanwhile, there have been four scores in the 80s.

There’s a tie at the top of the leaderboard between Y.E. Yang and Ricardo Gonzalez, both at 7 under. Thomas Bjorn, Steve Pate and Mark Hensby are tied for third at 5 under. The final round is Saturday.

The PGA Tour Champions returns stateside in two weeks for the Cologuard Classic in Tucson, Arizona.

Augusta National chairman to Angel Cabrera: Get your visa, and you can play

Argentina’s Angel Cabrera is welcome to return the Masters, with one big catch.

Argentina’s Angel Cabrera is welcome to return the Masters, with one big catch.

In order to officially receive his invite and play in the men’s major in April, he first must obtain a visa, said Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Fred Ridley.

Speaking during a press conference at the Latin America Amateur Championship in Panama, Ridley was asked about whether Cabrera, who won the Masters in 2009 and is currently listed on the tournament website as a non-invited past champion, would be given a spot in the field as is custom to past champions.

“Angel certainly is one of our great champions,” Ridley said in one of the first questions posed to him. “As we all know, he has been unable to participate in the Masters the last couple of years due to legal issues. Presently we have been in constant contact with Angel’s representatives. He presently is not able to enter the United States. 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.”

The 54-year-old Cabrera, who served 30 months in prison in Brazil and Argentina and last played the Masters in 2019, had his visa expire this month but is attempting to regain his ability to be permitted entry to the U.S. and elsewhere.

“While competing in the Masters again is a dream, securing a visa is Angel’s priority at the moment so he can resume his professional career,” his manager, Manuel Tagle, wrote in an email to Golfweek. “We are working on getting an appointment with the U.S. Embassy in Argentina. Probably early March as his visa has expired January 2024.”

Cabrera is set to make his return to PGA Tour Champions at the Trophy Hasan II from Feb. 22-24 at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat, Morocco. Cabrera doesn’t need a visa to travel to Northern Africa to play there. The PGA Tour Champions previously said his suspension had been uplifted and he was welcome to play there.

“He’s been gone for three years and served time in jail and had time for personal reflection,” PGA Tour Champions President Miller Brady told Golfweek. “It’s a bit like Jim Thorpe, who spent time in jail (for tax evasion) and was welcomed back. It’s a little different. I don’t know if he can travel in the United States because he needs a visa. I think guys forgive. I’m not sure if spouses will forgive, that’s the bigger question. But he has the right to play.”

The week after Morocco, Cabrera is expected to play in the Visa Argentina Open in Buenos Aires at Olivos Golf Club, which is being conducted for the first time as a tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Golfweek also has confirmed that Cabrera has received an exemption to play in the Insperity Invitational in Houston in early May should he be granted a visa.

Cabrera played his first professional event in December since being released from jail on Aug. 4 after he completed more than two years in custody over gender violence cases against two of his ex-girlfriends. Cabrera finished T-10 at Abierto del Litoral, or the Coast Open, a tournament held in his native Argentina that has been a fixture on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica Developmental Series.

After 30 months in prison, Masters champ Angel Cabrera will return to golf on PGA Tour Champions

“While competing in the Masters again is a dream, securing a visa is Angel’s priority at the moment.”

Former major champion Angel Cabrera’s comeback tour is beginning to take shape.

Golfweek has learned that Cabrera, who served 30 months in prison in Brazil and Argentina and last played PGA Tour Champions in 2020, is set to make his return to that circuit at the Trophy Hassan II, Feb. 22-24 at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat, Morocco. Cabrera doesn’t need a visa to travel to Northern Africa to play there.

“He’s been gone for three years and served time in jail and had time for personal reflection,” PGA Tour Champions President Miller Brady told Golfweek. “It’s a bit like Jim Thorpe, who spent time in jail (for tax evasion) and was welcomed back. It’s a little different. I don’t know if he can travel in the United States because he needs a visa. I think guys forgive. I’m not sure if spouses will forgive, that’s the bigger question. But he has the right to play.”

The week after Morocco, Cabrera is expected to play in the Visa Argentina Open in Buenos Aires at Olivos Golf Club, which is being conducted for the first time as a tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Golfweek also has confirmed that Cabrera has received an exemption to play in the Insperity Invitational in Houston in early May. Cabrera first will need to obtain a visa, which could also be a hang-up for him to play in the Masters, which he won in 2009, in April as a past champion.

Cabrera’s manager Manuel Tagle confirmed that Cabrera, who also won the U.S. Open in 2007, is seeking to regain a visa to travel to the U.S. and elsewhere.

“While competing in the Masters again is a dream, securing a visa is Angel’s priority at the moment so he can resume his professional career,” Tagle wrote in an email to Golfweek. “We are working on getting an appointment with the U.S. Embassy in Argentina. Probably early March as his visa has expired January 2024.”

Cabrera played his first professional event in December since being released from jail on Aug. 4 after he completed more than two years in custody over gender violence cases against two of his ex-girlfriends. Cabrera finished T-10 at Abierto del Litoral, or the Coast Open, a tournament held in his native Argentina that has been a fixture on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica Developmental Series.

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