
Cabrera-Bello earns Match Play call-up
The best day of Spanish golfer Rafael Cabrera-Bello's career got even better late on Sunday night.
Hours after beating three of the world's top four golfers and everyone else in the stellar field that contested the Dubai Desert Classic, the Canary Islander learned that he had qualified for his first World Match Play Championship.
Callaway RAZR X Individual Irons and WedgesIn defeating Lee Westwood and Scot Stephen Gallacher by a shot in Dubai and rocketing from 119th into the top 64 at No 60 on the latest World Rankings list, Cabrera-Bello will play in next week's WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona for the first time.
This on a day when not too many hours later Phil Mickelson, who from six strokes behind, fired a closing 64 to win the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am, moved six places from 17th to 11th.
That's not in the top 10 for the former World No 2, but it was a big move in the right direction and took him well clear of Tiger Woods, the former World No 1 who kept him pegged at No 2 for a considerable time.
Woods remained at No 18 after falling away on the final day with some poor putting and finishing in 15th place at Pebble Beach.
Cabrera-Bello, in the meantime, was delighted with his move.
"This was the quality jump I was looking for in my game and it's offered me the opportunity to play with the world's best players," said the 27-year-old, whose only previous European Tour win came in the low-key Austrian Open three years ago.
He achieved that with a European Tour record-equalling closing round of 60.
At The Emirates on Sunday, a bogey-free 68 gave him the
Callaway RAZR X Individual Irons and Wedges as Westwood failed to hang onto the lead he had held for most of the final day.