Cabrera-bello takes two-shot lead in Dubai
DUBAI: Rafael Cabrera-bello made nine birdies in his first 11 holes Thursday to take the lead after the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic, finishing with a 9-under 63 to sit two strokes ahead of Marcel Siem and Scott Jamieson.
US Open Champion Rory Mcilroy was three shots back after recovering from a slow start to make seven birdies on his last 10 holes. He is tied for fourth with six other players, including 2010 PGA Champion Martin Kaymer.
Cabrera-bello said it was his consistent short game that helped put him in contention for a second European Tour win and first since 2009. The 27-year-old Spaniard chipped to within three feet on his fourth hole for birdie, then sank a 20-foot birdie putt on his fifth and made a 15-foot putt on his eighth.
“It felt simple. I know it’s not and I know it’s really hard to repeat,” the 119th-ranked Cabrera-bello said. “But it felt like everything was going nice and smooth today.” As he made the turn, Cabrera-bello said he briefly thought about scoring 59, one shot better than his career-best 60 which helped him win the Austrian Open. But he ended the round with seven straight pars and said it’s too soon to start thinking about winning the tournament.
“I don’t think anyone who plays good in any tournament in the first round thinks about winning,” Cabrera-bello said. “I’m sure that is one thing you shouldn’t do. ... You only need to think about how many times the first-round leader ends up winning, which I don’t think is a very good percentage.” Mcilroy, who won the tournament in 2009 and finished second last month at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, started with six straight pars and then a bogey. But he sank clutch birdie putts on No. 9 and 11 and then just missed a hole-in-one on the par-3 15 by a foot.
“I didn’t really get much going on the front nine,” Mcilroy said. “And then I sort of got a few things going after that.” Kaymer, who missed the cut in Abu Dhabi, continued the strong form that saw him finish ninth at last week’s Qatar Masters. He also started slowly with a birdie and bogey on the front nine but then had four birdies to go with a bogey on the back. He finished off with an eagle after a great drive on 18.
“I think I played very well. I hit a lot of good golf shots, hit a lot of good iron shots,” Kaymer said. “I had plenty of chances today.” Siem, another German, managed to upstage his more famous compatriot with his 7-under 65. He started by making a long birdie putt on No. 2, then chipped in on No. 6 for the third of his four birdies on the front. The 223rd-ranked German challenged for the lead with three birdies on his last four holes. But then he found the water on the 18th with his second shot and finished with a bogey.
“It was one of my best days of golf to be honest,” Siem said. “At the beginning, I didn’t hit all the fairways. But on the back nine, I hit all the fairways and my iron shots were all straight at it.” Jamieson also had a strong round, with the Scot making five birdies and an eagle in a bogey-free 65.
Four players — including Ross Fisher of England — are four shots behind Cabrera-bello. Thirdranked Lee Westwood (69) is six shots off the pace and defending champion Alvaro Quiros is a shot further back. Paul Lawrie, who won the Qatar Masters, is eight shots back and Abu Dhabi winner Robert Rock is 10 shots behind.
“It was a pretty poor round of greens today. Hit the ball quite nice, hit some good shot but my chipping was bad,” Rock said. “Ten (shots) is a long ways back. There are a lot of people under par so I have a lot to do.”
Six share lead in
Manila
In Manila, unheralded Lu Tzeshyan from Taiwan was the unlikeliest of names to join a leaderboard logjam after the first round of the $300,000 ICTSI Philippine Open on Thursday.
The 31-year-old Lu, who has made just two cuts in 26 starts on the Asian Tour and whose uncle was a multiple Tour winner, battled to a three-under-par 69 late in the day to make it a six-way tie.