Masters – Page 12 – Syndication Server

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.

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.

Two-time champion Bernhard Langer will play Masters for final time in 2024

Langer made his debut at Augusta National Golf Club in 1982.

Two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer will make his final trip down Magnolia Lane as a competitor this year.

Langer, 66, announced the 2024 Masters will be his last ahead of this week’s Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in Hawaii, the first PGA Tour Champions event of the year.

“It’s exciting,” Langer told NBC Sports as part of a PGA Tour Champions season preview that will air on Golf Channel on Wednesday night, “but at the same time, I’m aware that I’m going to be hitting 3-irons and 2-hybrids when the guys are hitting 9-irons into the green, and that’s tough to compete against. But it’s a challenge, and I usually don’t shy away from challenges.”

MORE: Who we think could be future honorary starters at the Masters

The Masters champion in 1985 and 1993, Langer made his debut at Augusta National Golf Club in 1982 and will make his 41st career start later this year. The German has finished inside the top 10 eight times, most recently in 2014. His last made cut was in 2020.

One of 17 players who have won the Masters more than once, Langer is joined by the following two-time champions: Horton Smith, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Ben Crenshaw, Jose Maroa Olazabal and Bubba Watson.

Langer is a legendary pro who, after earning three PGA Tour and 42 DP World Tour wins, went on to become the greatest senior player the game has ever seen. He’s won a record 12 senior major championships and broke the record for Champions tour wins with his 46th victory at last year’s U.S. Senior Open.

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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.

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.”

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Photos: Two-time Masters winner Ben Crenshaw through the years

The Austin native was a star at the nearby University of Texas and won 19 times on the PGA Tour.

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Start a conversation about the greatest golf legends from the state of Texas and you’re bound to hear Ben Crenshaw’s name dropped.

The Austin native was a star at the nearby University of Texas, won 19 times on the PGA Tour, captured a pair of green jackets, and has become one of the industry’s leading course architects.

And although he could call anywhere home, he’s still often spotted at the municipal course on which he first learned to love the game — Lions Municipal — a place he has been fighting to save for decades.

On January 11, 2024, Crenshaw reached the ripe age of 72 years old.

Here is a look at some snapshots of Crenshaw through the years.

What are the prize money payouts for the 38 tournaments on the 2024 PGA Tour schedule?

There’s nearly $400 million in official prize money up for grabs in 2024 on the PGA Tour.

There are 38 events on the PGA Tour’s 2024 schedule, with 37 of them doling out $398,900,000 in prize money payouts.

The Tour Championship provides the biggest paydays to the lucky 30 who reach the season finale, but all of the money distributed at East Lake Golf Club is considered bonus.

So it’s the first 37 events of the season that the write checks – or shall we say, eletronic transfers – the big sums that count towards the official money list.

The Players Championship has the most official money at stake. There are eight signature events with $20 million purses. There’s the majors and the FedEx Cup Playoff events. Then there’s the best of the rest and finally the four opposite-field affairs.

To repeat, there’s nearly $400 million in official prize money and another $75 in bonus money up for grabs on the PGA Tour in 2024. Here’s a breakdown.

2023 Golfweek Awards: Male Player of the Year

The Male Player of the Year Award was one of two that were unanimous decisions by the Golfweek staff.

As the month of December winds down and January approaches, it’s time to look back on 2023 and reward some of the best moments the game of golf provided fans over the last year.

There were just two awards that produced unanimous votes from the esteemed Golfweek staff: the Female Amateur of the Year and the Male Player of the Year. The former was a repeat winner, while the latter is a first-time Golfweek Award recipient.

The discussion was brief and centered around a pair of multiple-time major champions as well as the winner of the 2023 FedEx Cup. Here are Golfweek’s honorable mentions for Male Player of the Year, as well as the consensus winner.

MORE: Check out every Golfweek Award for 2023

Tiger Woods: 48 wild stats and facts for his 48th birthday

Celebrate Tiger’s birthday with some insane stats from his career.

Golf is a game that revolves around numbers. Lots of numbers.

There’s par and yardage, irons, woods and wedges, golf balls and holes, strokes and strokes gained. The list goes on. When it comes to impressive lists of numbers and stats related to golf, nobody’s compiled a better one over a career than Tiger Woods. Even with all his injuries, he still isn’t done.

In fact, he’s adding another number today: 48. As in, years old.

From his record PGA Tour earnings to his record-tying 82 Tour wins and 15 major championships, here are 48 facts and stats to celebrate Tiger’s 48th birthday.

Photos: Remembering three-time Masters winner Jimmy Demaret through the years

Known for his loud apparel, “The Wardrobe,” as he was often called, won a total of 31 times on the PGA Tour.

Jimmy Demaret bounced from club pro jobs in Houston to Noroton, Connecticut, to Detroit and back to Houston in the space of under three years in the early 1940s.

But after honing his swing near the windy Gulf of Mexico, the best was yet to come for the vivacious and colorful Texas native. He rolled off a total of three victories at Augusta National (and a runner-up finish) to go with three appearances in the Ryder Cup, where he compiled a perfect 6-0-0 record. He was named to a fourth American squad, but in 1941 the competition was canceled due to World War II.

Known for his loud apparel, “The Wardrobe,” as he was often called, won a total of 31 times on the PGA Tour and reached the semifinals of the PGA Championship on four different occasions, although he never advanced past that point.

Demaret befriended movie stars, royalty, heads of state and astronauts, and was known as perhaps the closest friend on the PGA Tour to Ben Hogan. He also co-founded Champions Golf Club in Houston with buddy Jack Burke Jr. It was at Champions where Demaret suffered a heart attack on Dec. 28, 1983, and was later pronounced dead. He was 73.

Here are some of our favorite pictures of the World Golf Hall of Famer through the years.

‘Augusta National Golf Club cordially invites you:’ Players share photos of their 2024 Masters invitations

For players eligible for the Masters, it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

It’s that wonderful time of year again when players start to share their Masters invitations. Augusta National will host the year’s first major in 2024 and there will surely be some drama when the week comes.

Defending champion Jon Rahm caused waves through the sporting world when he announced his move to LIV Golf on Dec. 7. The Green Jackets in Georgia have been clear that any player who qualifies for the Masters is welcome to participate. With his win, Rahm can play in the historic tournament as long as he wants.

The Masters teased the invitations on Dec. 21 and players around the game have begun to share photos of their Masters invitations. See them all below.

2023 Golfweek Awards: On-Course Moment of the Year

There were almost too many on-course moments to chose from in golf over the last year.

As the month of December winds down and January approaches, it’s time to look back on 2023 and reward some of the best moments the game of golf provided fans over the last year.

The staff at Golfweek originally had plans for a “Moment of the Year” but there was too much that happened both on and off the course to pick just one, so we’ve split the honor into two different awards.

From the Solheim Cup to the Masters to the PNC Championship and the World Wide Technology Championship, here are the Golfweek staff’s favorite on-course moments of the year in 2023.