Angel Cabrera extradited from Brazil on assault, theft and intimidation charges

Two-time major winner has been accused of using violence against former partners

Ángel Cabrera – Angel Cabrera extradited to Brazil on assault, theft and intimidation charges
Ángel Cabrera was taken away by police dressed in a stab vest and ballistic helmet Credit: REUTERS

Ángel Cabrera, the two-time major winner, was extradited from Brazil on Tuesday to stand trial in his home country of Argentina on charges of violence against former partners, a prosecutor in the case has said.

Cabrera, 51, was arrested at the beginning of the year in Rio de Janeiro after he left Argentina and was placed on the Interpol red list.

He will spend the night in a cell in Iguazu, north eastern Argentina on the border with Brazil, before being transferred to a Córdoba jail pending trial.

Footage from Reuters showed Cabrera, the former Masters and US Open champion, with his hands cuffed in front of him and dressed in a federal police-issue stab vest and ballistic helmet, being transferred into police custody.

According to a police statement, Cabrera faces charges of minor injuries, threats and theft said to have occurred between 2016 and 2020. Laura Battistelli, the prosecutor, said Cabrera would stand trial on July 1, with other allegations still under investigation.

"He is detained because the court considered that he was evading the trial," she said.

Cabrera's ex-wife and two former girlfriends have accused him of domestic abuse.

According to multiple media outlets, Cabrera played senior events in the United States without seeking permission from Argentine officials who had requested he do so while under investigation for assault. An international arrest warrant was issued.

Known as El Pato - The Duck, due to his flat-footedness - Cabrera won three times on the PGA Tour, two of them majors. 

He became the first Argentine to win a major championship since Roberto De Vicenzo by claiming the 2007 US Open Championship at Oakmont, when he held off Jim Furyk and a resurgent Tiger Woods. His second major followed at the 2009 Masters when Cabrera beat American pair Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry in a play-off. Cabrera came close to a second Green Jacket in 2013, losing to Adam Scott in a play-off.

His taste for the big occasion was replicated in Europe where one of his three wins was the European Tour's flagship event, the 2005 BMW Championship at Wentworth. Cabrera was known for his long-hitting and prodigious distance but also his fiery temperament. 

He was raised in Villa Allende, a barrio of Córdoba, by his grandmother, having been abandoned by his parents. Cabrera's life in golf began by working as a caddie at a nearby club for 25 pesos a day.