BUFFALO, N.Y. — For 27 years, Valentino Dixon spent his days behind bars in maximum security prisons. Last year he was released from prison, and this year he was at the prestigious Masters tournament in Augusta, Georgia.
Dixon was exonerated of a murder charge. It was a crime he said all along he did not commit, and another man confessed to the crime. Erie County District Attorney John Flynn reviewed the case that led to Dixon's freedom.
While in prison he was asked to draw a golf course. It was the Augusta National. Golf Digest took notice and started looking into his case along with others that led to increased media attention.
Last week Dixon was at the Masters as an illustrator for Golf Digest. While he was there, he had a chance to meet and have a conversation with 2019 Masters winner Tiger Woods.
Before he won, Dixon told Tiger he would win. He said meeting Tiger was "just the greatest feeling in the world, especially from where I come from."
Dixon grew up in the inner city.
Now that he's seen Augusta National, he plans to do another drawing.
"You can see things in person that you can't see in a magazine or a photograph. I believe I can capture that hole (12th) a lot more vivid and detailed than ever," he said.
While there, he even got a short golf lesson from Tom Watson.
When Tiger Woods won, Dixon was on the road to another event. He attended the Innocence Project conference. He received a text that Woods won his first Green Jacket since 2005.
Besides art, Dixon is on a mission for prison and sentencing reform.
"Ultimately, my goal is to get before Congress and speak to the president and say, 'Hey, this is a human rights issue, not just civil rights violations against all people, black and white,' " Dixon said.
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