Former Masters Winner Details Stint In 'Prison From Hell' Ahead Of Return To Augusta National

The 2025 Masters will mark Angel Cabrera's 21st appearance in the year's first major championship, but his first since 2019 after he was convicted of domestic assault and intimidation of two of his former partners.

Cabrera, who won the 2009 Masters in a playoff over Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell, spent 30 months in jail in both Argentina and Brazil before being released in August 2023. The Argentinian was suspended by the PGA Tour following his conviction in 2021, but reinstated after being released from jail. He was eligible to tee it up in last year's Masters, but ran into a visa issue that kept him out of the tournament.

Cabrera has not played in a PGA Tour event since 2019, but made 12 starts on the PGA Tour Champions in 2024 and has made the cut in both of his starts on the senior circuit in 2025.

Ahead of his return to Augusta National, the 55-year-old has shared details about his time behind bars while also expressing regret for the mistakes he made years ago.

"I regret everything that I have done wrongly in my past. I am also frustrated that I dumped very, very important years of my life. I made mistakes," Cabrera told the Daily Mail.

"It is one of the worst things that can happen to a human being, not being able to have freedom. The lack of freedom is something really difficult, really hard. And on the other hand, you know, I can tell you that the most important thing I feel right now is the second chance, the opportunity to get back on the right track."

Angel Cabrera will be making his return to the Masters after a lengthy prison sentence. (Michael Madrid-Imagn Images)

Cabrera was arrested in January 2021 in Rio de Janeiro and spent nearly five months in Plácido de Sá Carvalho prison in Brazil, which he made clear was the worst of the two situations.

"Brazil was probably the worst part and the most difficult one for me," he explained. "Pretty much all the time, I was locked down. There was not much walking or moving or anything like that. I was sleeping in some pieces of cloth on a bed that was basically cement.

I was locked in with someone else, so we were two locked down there, and the cell was like two meters by two meters."

Cabrera was extradited to Argentina in June 2021 where he spent 18 months in an Argentine prison nicknamed ‘The Prison From Hell,’ but it did not compare to his time locked up in Brazil.

"The people in prison with me, they were mostly older people and educated and so it was a relatively okay environment. It wasn’t a dangerous one," Cabrera said of his time behind bars in his home country. He also noted that he was kept in an area separate from gang members.

It's hard to imagine the emotions Cabrera will feel driving down Magnolia Lane for the first time in more than half a decade, but he's certainly looking forward to that experience.

"It’s the place every single golfer wants to be," Cabrera said of his return to the Masters.