04a;Win;for;the;road;Warrior
two weeks ago emma cabrera-bello was realistic about what her brother and fel-
low touring pro rafael required to finally crack the world ranking’s top 100. “he just
needs a little bit of magic, luck, whatever you want to call it,” she said. cabrera-bello,
ranked 119th when he began with a 63 at the omega dubai desert classic at emirates
gc, went bogey-free over the last 30 holes and birdied three of the week’s final eight.
despite a few shaky late shots, he prevailed in the face of stumbles by fellow co-lead-
ers lee westwood and stephen gallacher to win by a stroke. the title joins cabrera-
bello’s 2009 austrian open victory and was the european tour’s fifth straight by
players outside the world top 100. what distinguishes cabrera-bello? he is one of
the game’s road warriors: 39 nations in 192 career starts since his 2006 pro debut,
including argentina, costa rica and kazakhstan. now the man who held a mayakoba
classic invite moved to 60th on the ranking and gains a spot in next week’s wgc-
accenture match play championship, and has a shot at getting into the majors as
well. “i told myself that this is where i belong,” he said of a saturday starting time with
second-ranked rory mcilroy. “so i obviously could feel no fear, nothing at all.” that’s
much better than relying upon “whatever.” —Brett Avery (@BWAvery)
andre w redington/getty images
cover // contents // 10 things // pga tour // lpga tour // champions tour // european tour //equipment // tim rosaforte
