Angel Cabrera hopes Tiger returns for Masters
Defending champion Angel Cabrera said he hopes that Tiger Woods plays in the Masters this year.
"I want Tiger to be there," Cabrera told a group of reporters on a teleconference Tuesday. "He's the best. When he's there it makes tournaments special."
After a series of women claimed they had relationships with Woods, who is married, he announced two weeks ago that he was taking time away from golf, with no return date announced. A four-time Masters winner, Woods has played in the event every year since his first appearance in 1995. The Associated Press, citing an anonymous source, said Woods has spent the past week at a family counseling center in Arizona with his wife, Elin. The source said Woods has returned to his home in Orlando and has begun to work on his fitness and his game.
Cabrera, a native of Argentina, became the first South American to win the Masters by defeating Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell on the second hole of a playoff last year. He shot a 12 under par 276 to win the green jacket. This year's tournament tees off April 8.
Even if Woods doesn't return to Augusta National, Cabrera said the luster of the first major of 2010 won't be lost.
"The Masters will always be the Masters, with or without him," Cabrera said. "When he comes back I hope comes back in great form."
Cabrera, 40, has two wins in the United States, both in majors. His power off the tee and imaginative short game propelled him to the top of the U.S. Open at the Oakmont Country Club in 2007, where he edged Woods and Jim Furyk by a stroke with a 5-over-par 285.
Those two skills helped him immensely on the last day of the Masters, when he hit an impressive 18-foot putt on the par-3 16th hole after Perry put his tee shot within inches of the hole.
He followed that with another 4-footer on 18 in regulation. But perhaps the shot that won the tournament was the punch from the trees on 18 that ricocheted off a tree and fortuitously landed in the fairway. He made up-and-down from there to save par. Cabrera couldn't say though, which shot was his favorite. "It's hard to pick one or two," Cabrera said through an interpreter.
He had no problem picking his best memory, though.
"The greatest memory was when they were putting on the green jacket," Cabrera said. "It's something I'll always remember."
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