Angel Cabrera of Argentina, playing one week before he returns to the Masters, is part of a five-way tie for the lead at the inaugural James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational following Friday’s round in Boca Raton, Fla.
Cabrera shot a 4-under-par 68 at The Old Course at Broken Sound, as did Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, Germany’s Alex Cejka, Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and David Bransdon of Australia.
Jay Haas and Australian Greg Chalmers are one shot off their pace.
Cabrera, 55, won the Masters in 2009 for his second career major title. But he has not appeared at the Masters since 2019 and spent time in prison between 2021 and 2023 for multiple offenses, including assault.
Cabrera was cleared to appear in PGA Tour-sanctioned events in December 2023.
“I’m very excited,” Cabrera said of heading back to Augusta. “It will be a great moment.”
Jimenez joined the group at 4 under par by birdieing his last hole, the par-4 ninth. He entered the week first in the Charles Schwab Cup season-long standings.
Bjorn recovered from an opening bogey and wound up with six birdies on his card, including four with one bogey on his second nine. Bjorn, 54, has never won on the PGA Tour Champions.
“On this tour it’s very much you got to get a start and be in there from the beginning,” Bjorn said. “Then you can do something on the weekend. It’s easy to play yourself out of it on the first day. You have to get a good round early on. I have played some nice golf, I just haven’t put any scores together. Doesn’t put a lot of pressure on the game when you have a day like that.”
Several notable names are tied two off the pace at 2-under 70, including Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, K.J. Choi of South Korea and Vijay Singh of Fiji.
–Field Level Media
