Agony again as Rafa Cabrera Bello misses the prize for second straight year
Spaniard comes close but lets himself down on the 18th hole as he settles for joint second place at Fanling
Rafa Cabrera Bello had to pull off a Rory McIlroy shot for victory at the UBS Hong Kong Open but victory at Fanling eluded him for the second straight year after a bogey on the 18th left him in a four-way tie for second on Sunday.
In 2016, Cabrera Bello missed a birdie putt on the 18th that would have put him in a play-off with winner Sam Brazel, of Australia.
On Sunday, he needed to hole out from the front bunker for victory, and when he couldn’t do that he left himself an eight-foot par putt to force a play-off. That also didn’t come as the Spaniard finished on one-under-par 69 for a four-round total of 10-under 270 – a stroke behind another Australian, Wade Ormsby.
Cabrera hit an aggressive eight-iron approach shot straight at the pin but instead found the bunker. In 2011, Northern Ireland’s McIlroy holed from the bunker to win the tournament and Cabrera faced a similar situation, but it was not to be.
“My thoughts were just shot by shot,” said the 24-year-old Cabrera Bello, who has three European Tour wins and is ranked 20th in the world. “I had a good number coming in for my second shot. I took an aggressive line and I knew it was tight but it was only about a yard away from being a really, really good shot. Unfortunately, it rolled back into the bunker.