Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello extended his cuts-made streak to seven in Abu Dhabi and recorded his second straight top-five finish at the HSBC Championship, where he finished T-2 at 9-under 279 and came up one stroke shy of winner Thomas Pieters.
The 37-year-old Spaniard had moved into a tie for the lead with four holes to play, but costly bogeys at Nos. 15 and 16 proved to be his undoing, despite finishing with a birdie at his 72nd hole for a final-round, 2-under 70. “I’m just happy that I put myself in that position,” said the four-time DP World Tour winner, whose last title came at the 2021 Open de Espana. “I know if I do that often, I’ll be lifting more trophies.” He’s also got his sights set on bettering his world ranking, which improved from No. 161 to 102 with his runner-up result. “I think I can play better and obviously I’m working hard to get back into the top 50 in the world, and this week for sure is going to give me lots of confidence towards that goal,” said Cabrera Bello, who’s missed just one cut in 15 appearances in Abu Dhabi. He’ll look to build on that confidence this week at the Dubai Desert Classic, where he’ll make his 13th career start. He’s 8-for-12 in cuts made at Emirates GC, with three tops 10s including a victory in 2012 (beating Lee Westwood and Stephen Gallacher by a stroke) and T-2 in 2016 (one stroke behind winner Danny Willett).