Angel Cabrera shot 1-over 73 Friday at the PGA Tour Champions’ American Family Insurance Championship in Madison, Wisconsin, his first competitive round in the U.S. in nearly four years.
The 54-year-old Cabrera, who was T-43 and five shots off the lead after 18 holes at University Ridge Golf Course, had only recently been permitted a visa to compete in the U.S. following his release last August from an Argentine prison, where he completed a 30-month jail sentence.
“I feel good,” Cabrera told reporters via an interpreter. “I like to play golf. I hit some really good shots, I missed some easy shots, but in general I feel pretty good on the course and with the people I played with (Scott McCarron and Scott Dunlap).”
Cabrera’s last played a U.S.-based tournament in September 2020. A few months later, in January 2021, Cabrera was arrested in Brazil and extradited back to his home country, where he was later convicted of assault, theft and legal intimidation of former partner Cecilia Torres Mana and assault of another former partner, Micaela Escudero.
“I refused to listen to anyone and did what I wanted, how I wanted and when I wanted,” Cabrera told Golf Digest last year. “That was wrong. I ask Micaela for forgiveness. I ask Celia for forgiveness. They had the bad luck of being with me when I was at my worst. I wasn’t the devil, but I did bad things. I am deeply embarrassed because I disappointed the people closest to me – and everyone who loves me through golf.
“Golf gave me everything, and I know I will never be able to repay the debt I owe this sport.”
While in prison, Cabrera went back to school and began treatment for alcohol addiction. His current partner, Yamila Alvarez, welcomed their son in December 2022, and Cabrera and Alvarez wed last October. Cabrera was then reinstated by the PGA Tour last December, though until now he’d been resigned to competing in events outside the U.S., including the KFT’s Argentina Open and PGA Tour Champions’ Trophee Hassan II. Cabrera missed last April’s Masters Tournament while waiting on his visa issue to be resolved; he hasn’t played the year’s first major since 2019.
Cabrera is reportedly also set to play next week’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, the PGA Tour Champions event in Endicott, New York, though like this week’s tournament, Cabrera will start on the alternate list unless he receives a sponsor exemption.
“Yes, yes, it’s a new beginning,” Cabrera said. “It’s a great future ahead.”