Austin’s Daily Commentary – Angel Cabrera’s Return To The Masters

Austin: They say that sports is the ultimate meritocracy. You either succeed or fail based on your performance on the field in front of thousands and sometimes millions of spectators, and you win your awards, your victories based on that performance, and that's it. Personalities don't matter. Physical appearance doesn't matter. Previous wealth or success does not matter.

It's how you perform in that given competition. Well, it's not quite like that in team sports. Think about it. Think about team owners that assemble groups of players that perhaps exclude certain other players because of personality conflicts or past indiscretions. Keep in mind that owners have to sell tickets to team sports, and if you've got someone who is a particularly nasty personality, there could be protests among your loyal fans.

So, in fact, team sports does not represent a true meritocracy at times. However, golf is a different subject, and certainly there's no better example of a player succeeding or failing based on their own personal talent than in the game of golf. You either win or place or don't, and that's based on the way that you actually perform under competition. A little bit of a different circumstance though with who gets invited to participate in tournaments, and the Augusta National has remained steadfast in their insistence on inviting past champions to participate.

Angel Cabrera returning to the Masters after being gone for the last several years serving domestic violence sentences in Argentina and Brazil. These are crimes that he freely admits to. He is very apologetic for, reticent, and regretful. Who is the golf world or any of the golf fans to judge him past what those governments in South America have already judged him? That's a philosophical question.

Bottom line, the Augusta National staying true to their process, staying true to their own belief system, as rightfully they should.

Angel Cabrera came back last week and participated in his first senior event, winning it. No reason to think that he's not going to do well this year, year, not necessarily in contention for another green jacket, but the former Masters champion could, in fact, be a factor in his own way.

Certainly, his presence here has generated controversy, but judge the man based on what he's here to do, and that's to play golf, not to be anyone's friend or to be popular. You can ask Patrick Reed about that. And that's the comment.

I'm Austin Rhodes. 95.1 FM News Talk, WGAC.