Rafael Cabrera-Bello

Rafael "Rafa" Cabrera-Bello (born 25 May 1984) is a Spanish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour.

Professional career

Cabrera-Bello was born in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. He first played golf aged six and went on to enjoy a successful amateur career, winning the Spanish National Championship at every age group level from under-7 through under-18. In 2002, as a 17-year-old amateur, he finished in a tie for fourth at the Open de Espana, a European Tour event. He turned professional at the age of 20 in 2005, having narrowly missed out obtaining a European Tour card at final qualifying school. His performance did ensure a place for the second tier Challenge Tour.

In a successful first season Cabrera-Bello recorded his maiden professional victory, at the MAN NÖ Open in Austria. He finished the season 13th in the Tour rankings, earning him a place on the following year's European Tour. He struggled during his rookie season in 2007, failing to finish better than tied for 18th in any tournament as he finished outside the top 200 on the Order of Merit. He failed to regain his playing status at the end of season qualifying school and returned to the Challenge Tour for 2008. His second professional victory came in the 2008 Credit Suisse Challenge, and he ended the year by once again earning graduation to the main tour, finishing 14th in the rankings.

Cabrera-Bello's second season of European Tour golf proved far more successful. In his first eleven events, he missed only one cut, finishing in the top 10 on four occasions and the top 20 a further five times. After such a promising start to the season he suffered a slump in form, making only 2 of his next 10 cuts. However, he bounced back in dramatic style at the Austrian Open in September. Lying nine shots off the lead after the first two rounds, he recorded a third round 66 to move up the leaderboard, before firing a record-equalling 11-under-par final round of 60 to claim victory by one shot ahead of Benn Barham, who had led for the entire tournament. His performance equalled the record for any round on the European Tour, and was only the third time a player had carded a final round 60 to win a tour event. In 2012 he claimed the biggest win of his career at the Dubai Desert Classic against a field containing three of the world's top four.

Professional wins (5)

European Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	20 Sep 2009	Austrian Golf Open	–20 (71-67-66-60=278)	1 stroke	Benn Barham
2	12 Feb 2012	Omega Dubai Desert Classic	–18 (63-69-70-68=270)	1 stroke	Stephen Gallacher, Lee Westwood

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponents	Result
1	2014	BMW International Open	Grégory Havret, Henrik Stenson, Fabrizio Zanotti	Zanotti won with par on fifth extra hole Cabrera-Bello eliminated with par on fourth hole Havret eliminated with birdie on second hole

Challenge Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner-up
1	23 Jul 2006	MAN NÖ Open	–16 (61-68-66-69=264)	2 strokes	Niki Zitny
2	13 Jul 2008	Credit Suisse Challenge	–25 (67-64-68-68=267)	2 strokes	Gary Lockerbie

Other wins (1)

• 2005 Canarias Professional Championship (as an amateur)

Results in major championships

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	T47	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	T81	T21	CUT	T40
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	CUT	T29	73	CUT

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances

Amateur

• Jacques Léglise Trophy (representing Continental Europe): 2000, 2001 (winners)
• Eisenhower Trophy (representing Spain): 2004

Professional

• World Cup (representing Spain): 2013

See also

• 2006 Challenge Tour graduates
• 2008 Challenge Tour graduates

External links

• Rafael Cabrera-Bello at the European Tour official site
• Rafael Cabrera-Bello at the Official World Golf Ranking official site