Four-time DP World Tour winner and 2012 Dubai Desert Classic champion Rafa Cabrera Bello shares his strategic insights on three of the Majlis’ most pivotal holes, while Emirates Golf Club Senior Teaching Professional Tom Ogilvie explains how amateurs can tackle those same challenges.

HOLE 8 | PAR 4 | 459 YARDS | STROKE INDEX 3

Rafa Cabrera Bello:
Beautiful tee shot with the skyscrapers in the background. Very exposed to the wind too. Also, you would like to cut over as much of the desert as you can, but very wind dependent on how much you can chew on. There’s a palm tree that normally is a very good reference point for most players of how far right you want to finish the drive and still be in the fairway. Favouring the left side is clearly safer, but also not a freebie since many years there thick rough that makes the second shot pretty hard.

Karim Sahib / AFP / Getty Images

I feel the second shot always plays a little longer than the math. Definitely not a green you want to miss long. Left and right misses might be fine unless you’ve really short sided yourself. Green has a big slope from back to front that makes chipping from pin high tricky. Middle of the green in days the hole is playing long because of the wind is normally a good result. With no wind and a good drive you can be a bit more aggressive but I feel that with a par you’re gaining on the field.

Tom Ogilvie:
This is my favourite tee shot in the UAE. A slight dogleg to the right usually plays into a prevailing wind, so try to hug the left side of the fairway. A fully committed drive is required, which will leave you a mid to long iron into the green.

Image supplied

My top tip here is to double-check where the flag is on the green. From down below in the fairway, you can’t see the bottom of the flag. If it sits at the back, do not go long of the green. Leaving yourself below the hole will give you a much easier chip, or hopefully a putt, up the green for birdie. Enjoy it, it’s a cracker.

HOLE 17 | PAR 4 | 359 YARDS | STROKE INDEX 16

Ryan LIM / AFP / Getty Images

Rafa Cabrera Bello:
Drivable par four always gives a lot of options. Most of the really long hitters will give it a try almost daily, but someone like myself has to take other things into consideration before taking it on. Firstly, the wind – into the wind is a no go for me, I’ll probably hit a 3 iron or 5 wood straight to the middle of the fairway. It looks like a very wide fairway off the tee, and it is, but you could end up in the right side of the fairway and be blocked by some very well placed palm trees, so when I’m playing safe off the tee, it takes good commitment to look for the middle, even the left side so that the shot to the green is unobstructed.

If we have a downwind breeze, then the driver comes into play. I personally need my absolute best drive to reach the green, so with thick rough around the green I will check for the pin position. Any pins in the right-hand side of the green, especially the back right one, and I will also play safe from the tee. For me the ideal pin to go for it will be the back left pin, because if I don’t reach the green, I will have still have a lot of room and green to use for the chip shot. Very exciting hole that can allow from eagle to bogey or worse in a very narrow margin.

Tom Ogilvie:
The 17th is a real birdie chance. If you’re feeling confident with the driver, take it on. You’ll need to aim slightly right and carry it over the trees. It’s a short par 4 which, for the longer hitter, can get you close to the green or leave a short pitch into a narrow target.

For the more conservative golfer, a 3 wood or long iron from the tee will leave a short to mid iron in. A generously wide fairway awaits, but the green is significantly longer than it is wide, so an accurate approach is required.

HOLE 18 | PAR 5 | 546 YARDS | STROKE INDEX 12

Andrew Redington / Getty Images

Rafa Cabrera Bello:
Tough tee shot to hit the fairway. Very narrow ‘actual’ fairway if you want to take it on in two. Ideally, a high draw is what most guys will try to hit, but if you just draw it a tiny bit too much because of the angle of the dogleg it will make it very difficult to carry. On the other hand, if you don’t draw the ball enough you could run through the fairway into the rough and/or leave yourself too long of a second shot to go for the green. If you’re laying up, it could be crucial to hit the fairway and leave yourself a comfortable number to the pin.

For the pins on the left, it’s much easier, the green is way deeper and there is a slope that will help you stop the ball if you’re coming out of the rough and even feed it close to the hole depending on the pin placement. For the typical Sunday pin that is tuck on the right, the green will be pretty short for your landing area. Water short will be an immediate penalty, and the bunker long will most likely force you to play safe out, not even going at the pin, costing you a very disappointing and likely bogey to finish.

Assuming you’ve hit a great drive and you’re in range to go for it it’s a very inviting shot to actually go for it. Again, pin placement will make it easier or tougher specially for the eagle chance. You have room left, and a grandstand long left that will allow you to hit an extra club if you can’t afford to go in the lake. The up and downs from the left are very makeable, but get tougher the further right the pin is. And if you’ve managed to hit the green you’ll be happy to have the eagle chance.

Tom Ogilvie:
This is fantastic par 5 finishing hole that shapes from right to left and really tests your bravery. The more you cut the corner, the shorter the second shot becomes, which may give you the chance to take on the green over the water. Colin Montgomerie famously hit driver off the deck here to claim the 1996 European Tour Shot of the Year, so keep an eye out for his plaque.

For those who lay up, a straightforward mid to long iron will leave a short approach over the water.

If you decide to take on the green, the conservative line is up the left side, which leaves a pitch across the green. Sloping from back to front, a slippery putt awaits if you find yourself past the flag, putting back towards the water.

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The post How to win around the Majlis course at Emirates Golf Club, Dubai appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The American started the day four shots off the lead but three birdies put him in share and when he picked up another three gains in four holes from the 13th, he led by four.

A bogey-bogey finish took some of the gloss off his round but Schauffele will head into day four at seven-under as he looks for a first Rolex Series win.

“I had pretty much everything going,” Schauffele said. “I was judging the bounces well and making sort of the putts I need to and getting up-and-down when I was missing the green. Six birdies through 16, no complaints, and a tough finish.

“I’ll go to the range, get some better feels going into tomorrow but those are hard finishing holes. So overall, pretty okay with the day.

“I don’t want to think too far ahead but it would be very nice. It would be very special. It just proves that the game can travel, and beating an incredible field, one of the best of the year. I’m just going to focus on what I can do now and not get too carried away.”

Dubai-based Rafa Cabrera Bello is already a Rolex Series champion having won this event in 2017 and he was the closest challenger at five-under, a shot clear of England’s Jordan Smith and American duo Ryan Palmer and Jordan Spieth.

Schauffele arrived in Scotland as a man in form having also won his last start on the PGA Tour at the Travelers Championship after a run of four consecutive top-20 finishes.

Cameron Tringale started the day with a three-shot lead but he stumbled to a two-over 74 despite an eagle on the third

to sit at three under alongside U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who carded a 70, and American Alex Smalley who went round in 67.

There was then a group of eight players five shots off the lead including Swede Alexander Björk and Dane Rasmus Højgaard.

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By John Huggan
This one was pre-ordained. Or at least it was supposed to be, if the majority of the pre-tournament publicity was to be believed. It was supposed to be won by a Spaniard. And it was supposed to be won by a member of the recent European Ryder Cup team.

So close.

The first part came true at the Acciona Open de España. And the second nearly did. But here’s the thing. None of the above involved Jon Rahm, the only Spaniard in the field at Club de Campo in Madrid who played for Europe at Whistling Straits last month.

As Rahm surprisingly struggled to a T-17 finish in his quest for a third consecutive victory at his home national Open, the ultimate triumph went to countryman Rafa Cabrera Bello. On a low-scoring Sunday in which only five of the 75-strong field shot over par, the Canary Islander, part of the losing 2016 European Ryder Cup side at Hazeltine National, reached 19 under par with a closing 69. His 72-hole 265 total was good enough to take Cabrera Bello into a sudden-death playoff with another countryman, Adri Arnaus, one that would last just one hole. Cabrera Bello’s birdie from 10 feet on the 332-yard 18th was good enough to clinch the victory, his fourth on the European Tour.

There was a time, not so long ago when such a scenario would have come as no surprise. As recently as the 2017 Open Championship, in which he finished T-4, Cabrera-Bello was 16th in the World Ranking. But things have changed, and not for the better. This week, the 37-year-old arrived in his homeland’s capital city ranked 231st, having recently lost his playing privileges on the PGA Tour. Cabrera Bello finished 170th in the FedEx Cup standings in 2020-21. In 26 starts, he missed 14 cuts and failed to record a top-20 finish.

Still, all of the above was forgotten during a final round that could have started less auspiciously. Cabrera Bello lost his initial two-shot advantage with a double-bogey 6 on the opening hole, where he thinned a greenside bunker shot far over the putting surface. That lapse, however, was to be his last deviation from par or better, four birdies and 13 pars following.

The last of those pars was hard-earned. Tied with Arnaus on the final tee, Cabrera Bello badly pushed his drive. The ball hit a tree, rebounded backwards onto a cart path and didn’t stop until it had retreated almost 100 yards. Bunkered in two, Cabrera Bello got up-and-down to match Arnaus’ par and set up the playoff.

“I am so happy,” said the champion, his first win since the 2017 Scottish Open, in the immediate aftermath of victory, one that paid him €233,900. “I knew it was going to be a very hard battle. I arrived here in the worst shape I have been in over the last decade and I don’t have to tell you I didn’t get off to the ideal start. But I believed in myself and had some amazing support from the crowd. Over the last couple of years, I have felt a really special connection with the people here in Madrid. They were rooting for me right from the first round. So I hung in there, knowing I would have an opportunity. To walk away with a win is very special. This is a trophy I have always wanted to win.”

Stuart Franklin
Adri Arnaus (left) and Cabrera-Bello made it an all Spanish duo in the playoff at Club de Campo in Madrid.

As for Rahm, the two-time defending champion had the small compensation of witnessing first-hand the most remarkable run of scoring on a final day in which that accolade had much competition. One over par after eight holes, Grant Forrest proceeded to make nine 3s en route to the clubhouse and a tie for third place alongside Julien Guerrier and Shubhankar Sharma. The Scot played the back-nine in seven-under 28, five shots better than Rahm. But Cabrera Bello beat Rahm by six over 72 holes, which turned out to be much more important.

Less notably, another Scot, Marc Warren, broke 70 in all four rounds. The former World Cup winner pulled up a tie for ninth place, just over a month after he shot 86 in the opening round of the Italian Open. As was made clear this week, in golf you never really know what’s going to happen.

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By Dave Shedloski
Were this a column about the least surprising scores in the fog-delayed opening round of the 121st U.S. Open, we’d be talking about Brooks Koepka’s opening two-under-par 69, a score consistent with the things “Brooksy” likes to do in majors, or Phil Mickelson’s four-over 75, a score consistent with the visceral dislike Lefty has for his hometown muny.

But we’re here to chronicle the surprises on Day 1 at the South Course at Torrey Pines, and, yeah, you could say there were a few. And off the top of our head we can start with the very top of the leader board, where Russell Henley, who has played the U.S. Open more like Don Henley, won’t have a worthless evening. He’ll be sleeping on the lead. Or at least a share of it, with Louis Oosthuizen also getting to four under through 16 when play was suspended by darkness.

Playing in his eighth U.S. Open and his first since 2018, Henley tied his personal best with a four-under 67 Thursday and broke 70 for just the fourth time in 25 rounds. His highest finish in the championship is T-16, which came in his debut in 2010 at Pebble Beach. When he was an amateur.

This is surprising in and of itself. Then Henley mentions that he shot 79 on the South Course in his only visit to the Farmers Insurance Open in 2014 and felt “beat up.” Then there’s his major record—eight top-25 finishes in 26 starts, but nary a top-10.

“I would say over the last year, I’ve played the best golf I’ve played consistently in my career,” he said. “I feel like I have more of a complete game. But I haven’t finished top 10 in majors or anything. Haven’t really been in the majors. Been in a couple, but I’m still working to—kind of that part of my career, I want to make that better.”

We don’t want to burst his bubble, but do you know how many first-round leaders have gone on to win the U.S. Open? (OK, we’re going to burst his bubble.) Try 21. Not the greatest conversion average. The good news is, generally, first-round leaders get to be four-round participants. So, he’s got that going for him. Maybe that top-10 breakthrough comes this week.

Here are six other surprising rounds from opening day in San Diego:

Feel-good surprise: Matthew Wolff, 70.

Sean M. Haffey

Round of the day in our books. Just two years removed from winning the NCAA title, Wolff was so discouraged by his game that he took nearly two months off and chose to skip the PGA Championship in the process after finishing T-4 in the event in his major debut last August. Loved his explanation for choosing to return at the U.S. Open, where he was runner-up to Bryson DeChambeau last year. “If I shoot 78, there’s going to be a lot of people that do it as well, so … I won’t stand out quite as much.” With three bogeys and two double bogeys, he’d have shot that 78. Fortunately, he had eight birdies, the most in a U.S. Open since Mike Weir in 2009 at Bethpage Black. It was one more than Justin Hicks canned in making the most birdies in one round in the ’08 championship at Torrey. It was surprising and heart-warming and just plain fun to watch. Who isn’t glad to see the young man smiling again?

• • •

Brothers not grim surprise: The Molinaris (Francesco 68, Edoardo 70)

With a combined World Ranking of 548 and with neither having a victory since Francesco won the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational, not much was expected of the pair. Heck, Edoardo, the 2005 U.S. Amateur champion, hadn’t played in the championship since 2011 and has only been in the field three previous times. Francesco, who has fallen to 173rd in the world after once getting as high as fifth in 2018 when he captured the Open Championship, had a decent start to his year after skipping most of 2020, but had missed the cut in three of his last four events. He hadn’t even teed it up since early May at the Wells Fargo. Both excelled by gaining strokes on the green, which is weird because Francesco is 141st on the PGA Tour this season in strokes gained/putting and Edoardo is 179th on the European Tour in putts per round. So, sure, this makes sense.

• • •

Surprised, but shouldn’t be: Webb Simpson, 79.

Harry How

The 2012 U.S. Open winner said he knew Torrey Pines well enough despite his brief experience in the annual Farmers Insurance Open. What he didn’t mention was just how brief his previous encounters. Try two starts and four rounds on the South. If he was going by memory, it likely wasn’t a very good one. He missed the cut after opening with a 76 in his last appearance in 2011. Seven bogeys and a double were offset by a birdie on 18, so at least he’ll enter Round Two with some momentum, no?

• • •

Pool-busting, DraftKings-destroying, soul-crushing surprise: Collin Morikawa, 75.

Harry How

All that pre-championship chatter about nobody being better tee-to-green than Morikawa this season (yes, he ranks first on tour) should have been tempered by one long, loud “however, on the greens …” rejoinder. The California native, who last August won the PGA Championship up the road at Harding Park, was decent but not stellar with the ball-striking Thursday, but he gave up more than 2.5 strokes putting, 148th in the field. This definitely is NOT a surprise. Guess what? Morikawa ranks 167th in strokes gained/putting. How he is No. 4 in the world is pure voodoo— and explains all that pre-championship chatter about his tee-to-green prowess.

• • •

Surprise redux: Rafael Cabrera Bello, 68.

Ezra Shaw

At first blush, we were impressed with the Spaniard’s opening salvo, and we should have been given that he toured Torrey Pines without a bogey. But it turns out he’s started fast before, like last year, when he opened 70-68 at Winged Foot and sat T-3. That effort led to an eventual tie for 23rd, his best finish in seven starts. That’s also his best finish of the season, one in which he hasn’t brought his fastball often, having missed the cut in 10 of 19 events. So, naturally, he was a rock in the year’s third major after getting in through the final qualifier in Columbus, Ohio. “When my game is good, I think I can play good,” he said, providing the least surprising observation of the day.

• • •

Can’t-go-home-again surprise (Non-Mickelson Division): Sahith Theegala, 76.

Harry How

When you’re a Southern California native and win three Junior World titles at Torrey Pines, thereby earning the privilege of hitting the first shot of the championship, a lot is expected of you. Theegala, the 2020 Jack Nicklaus Award winner as NCAA Division I Player of the Year, seemed up to the task, getting to two under through 11 holes. Then he gave shots back faster than Brooks Koepka can roll his eyes. He tripled 12, birdied 14, and then played his last four holes in five over. Theegala, 23, won the last of his Junior Worlds at age 10. A while ago. But thought this would be a good time to remind him.

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With newly minted Masters champion and world No.1 Dustin Johnson and runaway U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau among no fewer than nine major champions previously confirmed, the Saudi International’s status as the king of the Desert Swing was never in doubt. Oh, did we mention reigning Open champion Shane Lowry and American drawcards Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed? Yes, they King Abdullah Economic City-bound as well.

But with the addition of nine European Ryder Cuppers, seven of them new names for the 3rd edition of the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club event in Feb., Golf Saudi might just have assembled the strongest European Tour field of 2021 outside the majors and WGCs.

Tommy Fleetwood, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwoood, Paul Casey, Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Tyrrell Hatton are the new significant seven, joining already confirmed Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Graeme McDowell, the latter defending champion.

“This announcement marks yet another amazing group of golf stars joining our 2021 field and the excitement of all the players to kick-off afresh in 2021, in Saudi Arabia is heartening to hear,” said Majed Al Sorour, CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation and Golf Saudi.

“The line-up for the tournament is looking strong and with more players still to be announced in the coming weeks – and on the back of two excellent Ladies European Tour events earlier this month – we are very much looking forward to the third edition of our tournament.

“We believe it will be the strongest instalment to date and will serve as a fabulous illustration that Saudi Arabia is open for business.”

The Feb.4-7 event will be fan-favourite Fleetwood’s bow in the Kingdom.

“From all I’ve heard from the lads who played there the last couple of years, the Saudi International is already established itself as one of the leading events on the European Tour both in terms of set up and facilities as well as quality of the field, which is really impressive this year,” said the six-time European Tour winner and standout of the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National.

Such a deep field means a deep well of OWGR and Ryder Cup ranking points on offer.

“With Ryder Cup qualification on the line, I am obviously looking to get my campaign off to a fast start and getting a decent finish or winning the Saudi International against such a stellar field would be massive,” said Poulter. “It’s been a really weird year with COVID so we are all looking forward to a fresh start in 2021 and I am hoping it is also a strong start as I keep my eyes firmly focused on qualifying for the European team at Whistling Straits.”

“I really enjoyed the tournament at the beginning of this year and am psyched to be returning next February. The course sets up for my game rather nicely so I was pretty frustrated to only finish in the top 20 and will certainly be aiming to finish rather higher up the leader board this year.”

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By E. Michael Johnson
Rafa Cabrera Bello is playing well at the U.S. Open, coming into the third round just two strokes off Patrick Reed’s lead, and is doing so by employing something you might find an everyday golfer try for his coming round on the weekend: changing up nearly every club in his bag.

According to Titleist, Cabrera Bello’s equipment company, a good part of the 36-year-old Spaniard’s early week prep centred on dialing in new shafts in his metalwoods, irons, and wedges, the work eventually leading to a change of driver head as well into the company’s new TSi3 driver.

Although highly unusual, the wholesale changes are an example of the benefits of communication between a player, his coach and equipment team along with that of fitting.

A Monday range session led to a discussion between swing coach Sean Hogan and Titleist tour rep Jim Curran about the shafts in Cabrera Bello’s irons—a split set of Titleist U500 utility irons (3-4) and 620 MB muscle-back blades (5- through 9-iron). The shafts were True Temper Project X LZ 7.0—a very stiff shaft that promotes a fairly penetrating flight but it was agreed to try the irons with the slightly more flexible LZ 6.5.

A range session on Tuesday revealed better yardages and enhanced consistency, leading Cabrera Bello to also try the same shafts in his Titleist Vokey SM8 wedges. While those were being built, Hogan and Curran eyed Cabrera Bello’s metalwoods, resulting in a switch to True Temper Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX shafts in his driver (60 grams) and 3- and 5-woods (80 grams). For the driver, they also had Cabrera Bello try the company’s new TSi3 driver. Using a 10-degree version of the club, Bello noticed better ball speed and launch conditions and put it in the bag.

Through 36 holes, he had hit 17 of 28 fairways at Winged Foot (ranked sixth) while averaging 319.3 yards off the tee, ranked 17th. It’s a marked difference from the way Cabrera Bello had been playing recently, having gone 29 starts on the PGA Tour since posting his last top 10 finish, which came at the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The seeming ridiculousness of making changes to 13 of the 14 clubs in the bag was not lost on those involved, leading one to jokingly ask, “Should we re-grip the putter?” Alas, the putter remained intact.

Here’s all the clubs and shafts Cabrera Bello has in the bag this week at Winged Foot:

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: Titleist TSi3 (True Temper Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 60), 10 degrees
3-wood: Titleist TS3 (True Temper Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 80), 15 degrees
5-wood: Titleist TS3 (True Temper Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 80), 18 degrees
Irons (3-4): Titleist U500; (5-9): Titleist 620 MB (True Temper Project X LZ 6.5)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM8 (48, 54, 60 degrees), True Temper Project X LZ 6.5
Putter: Scotty Cameron by Titleist GSS

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By Kent Gray
Eddie Pepperell has pole-position, Bryson DeChambeau second-place and proven pedigree, Tommy Fleetwood promising momentum.

The stage is set then for an absorbing moving day at the 31^st OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic, one that will also include Lee Westwood after the freshly-minted Abu Dhabi champion courageously snuck into the weekend on the +2 cutline.

An early 67 on Friday, to go with his opening 69, saw Pepperell set the clubhouse target at -8 by lunchtime of the second round and hold onto it all the way to dusk at Emirates Golf Club.

DeChambeau improved a Thursday 70 by three strokes but left a lot of putts out on the Majlis in his 67 as he chased down Pepperell. The 26-year-old American’s title defence is still very much on target though as he nestled into a three-way share of second with car crash escapee Dean Burmester (68) and Swedish half centurion Robert Karlsson (68), a shot adrift of Englishman Pepperell.

Fleetwood shifted gear a day ahead of the clichéd moving day, recovering from a three-over 75 with a flurry of eight birdies in a Friday low 65. Just four adrift of Pepperell, Fleetwood has raced from outside the cutline into genuine contention in a share of 11^th place.

After starting the day six over, Westwood’s fightback was equally gritty, a birdie-birdie finish, the last with a brilliant 3-wood and two putts at 18, capping a colourful two-bogey 68. Danny Willett also mustered a final hole birdie to squeeze in on the bubble but five other former champions – Alvaro Quiros, Rafa Cabrera Bello, David Howell (all +5), Stephen Gallacher (+6) and Haotong Li (+10) weren’t so lucky.

Major champion Graeme McDowell (+3) also has the weekend off, along with MENA Tour phenom Josh Hill (+10) after a pair of 77s.

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By John Tully-Jackson
With a chequered European Tour history, few gave 36-hole leader Francesco Laporta much chance of hanging onto the big names on moving day at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

The 29-year-old clearly didn’t read the script that had him going in reverse on Saturday in similar fashion to the last time he held a halfway lead, way back at the 2016 Trophée Hassan II. Then Laporta faded to a share of 22nd, still his best finish in the big league.

But maybe, just maybe, Laporta is ready this time. A steady three-under-par 69 on Saturday, to go with his sizzling 63 in the second round, hints so.

With a share of second place alongside Bernd Wiesberger and just a solitary shot behind tour veteran Lee Westwood’s -14 lead, the Italian journeyman certainly has a chance to prove the doubters of his ability to hang tough wrong again.

“I’m a different player, I was younger four years ago,” Laporta said of his Morocco slide.

“I was coming from a bad year and then I went to Tour School and it was fantastic to get my card, but I wasn’t ready. I feel more ready now and just try to enjoy my game.”

And enjoy it he should. With only one bogey scratched into his scorecard in the last 36 holes, something is going right. That something might just be Laporta’s putter which was hot again on the National’s billiard table greens Saturday.

One of his easiest putts of the day came on the 16th where, having left his tee shot 30+ yards behind his playing partners Matthew Fitzpatrick and Rafa Cabrera Bello, Laporta launched a mid-iron to a blind pin in more ways than one.

“I hit the ball pretty straight but then I lost it in the sun. People clapping, I thought, okay, must be good, and when I got to the green it was very close.”

The tap-in birdie preceded his monster putt at 17, and with a solid closing par, Laporta feels the door is open for his maiden European Tour victory in his first Rolex Series event.

“Yeah, the long putt on 17 was amazing. I made so many putts yesterday, and my putting was pretty good also today. I made some good pars and hopes of another good Sunday on the greens.

“It would be just a dream. I just want to think about my score and my game. Trying not to see the leaderboard, it’s not going to be easy. There’s going to be leaderboards everywhere. I think it’s going to be a good day tomorrow.”

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By Kent Gray
Francesco Laporta is no stranger to going scary low, nor winning. The trick now for the surprise halfway leader at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA is figuring out how to merge both things on the biggest stage.

The unheralded Italian rattled off nine birdies, including five on the trot to close out a sensational, bogey-free 63 on Friday. It allowed him to wriggle clear atop a bunched leaderboard of otherwise household names at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

Laporta will start the third round at -10,  halfway towards a maiden European Tour title but only a stroke clear of decorated European Tour winners Matthew Fitzpatrick and Rafa Cabrera Bello. With Sergio Garcia, Haotong Li and Renato Paratore at – 8, and Patrick Cantlay, former world No.1 Lee Westwood and 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen among those three adrift, the 29-year-old won’t be getting ahead of himself.

Before he even has the chance to, the world No. 121 deserved to bask in the glory of the round of his life, a score few saw coming after he’d missed the cut in the Alfred Dunhill Championship and last week’s South African Open in his two previous starts since returning to the European Tour as Challenge Tour No.1.

“It was a great day,” Laporta said after inching to within a stroke of The National course record of 62, held jointly by Henrik Stenson (2006) and defending champion Shane Lowry (2019).

“My putting was solid, my driver, my irons. I gave myself a lot of opportunity for birdies, and when I had the opportunities, I took it. Every time I was putting for birdie, I made it.

“I didn’t start the season good. I missed the cut in South Africa two times, and this is the third event and I’m leading, so I just want to enjoy the weekend.”

As the reigning Challenge Tour No.1, it’s not as though Laporta hasn’t cracked the code to closing out tournaments. He won twice on the second tier tour last year, at the Hainan Open and the Challenge Tour Grand Final in Mallorca as recently as November to seal his promotion back to the big time.

But previous personal experience highlights how difficult it is to keep your card, much less win on the European Tour. Laporta’s best finish in the top flight was a T-22 at the Trophée Hassan II in 2016, his only full season on the European Tour where he eventually finished 189th in the Race to Dubai to tumble down to the Challenge Tour once more.

Perhaps coincidently, Laporta led after the second round of the Trophée Hassan II four years ago like he does here. He’ll also be hoping for a better finish than the last time he shot a 63, a then course record at the 2013 Zimbabwe Open, a Sunshine Tour event where he eventually finished tied second.

Friday’s 63 was two better than his previous European Tour best – at the King’s Cup in Thailand in 2016 – and the best score of the second round by a stroke after Swede Sebastian Soderberg soared 92 places up to a share of 18th after a 64.

If there was a score even more surprising than Laporta’s, it was Brooks Koepka’s 75. A wayward driver saw the world No.1 plummet 32 places down the leaderboard to a share of 35th at -3 – not out of it but with much work to do over the closing 36 holes.

At least Koepka is here for the weekend. Among those to miss the -1 cut were Bryson DeChambeau after a second-round 77 left the golf scientist puzzled at +5, and defending champion Shane Lowry who frustratingly missed out by a stroke.

The Irishman had a heated run-in with a greenside bunker on the 18th after catching a plugged lie and failing to advance his ball onto the green. The reigning Open champion took his frustration out on the trap with a couple more lusty blows. He immediately looked embarrassed by the crater he left and soon after crestfallen after his title defence ended prematurely as his par attempt from the apron cruelly lipped out.

Former Masters champion Danny Willett (+2), Ian Poulter (+3) and 2014 Falcon trophy winner Pablo Larrazabal (+4) also have unwanted weekends off.

The post Unheralded Italian Francesco Laporta fires 63 for halfway lead in Abu Dhabi appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Rafa Cabrera Bello gleefully accepted a couple of gifts from the golfing gods while Matthew Fitzpatrick was pleased to take lady luck out of the equation with his “disciplined” play.

Sprinkle in five birdies apiece, mix it all together and the Spaniard and Englishman find themselves joint owners of second place at the halfway stage of the 15th Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, a shot adrift of surprise Italian leader Francesco Laporta.

Fitzpatrick’s second round 67 was a shot better than Cabrera Bello’s 68 and he’s gone bogey-free thus far. There have been three dropped shots through 36 holes for Cabrera Bello but both will begin moving day at Abu Dhabi Golf Club at -9. In other words, with exactly the same chance to capture their first European Tour wins since 2018 (Fitzpatrick) and 2017 (Cabrera Bello) respectively.

Fitzpatrick has gone bogey-free through 36 holes in Abu Dhabi. (Warren Little/Getty Images)

“Yeah, for the first week of the year, to have no bogeys, couldn’t ask for a better start, really,” said Fitzpatrick who isn’t playing like a man fresh from seven weeks off. “Just played really disciplined golf and it’s worked out well so far.”

Like 2012 Dubai Desert Classic champion Cabrera Bello, Fitzpatrick has pedigree in the desert, his win in the 2016 DP World Tour Championship the middle of his five European Tour wins thus far. Do you get up for the Rolex Series events more than other tournaments, Matthew?

“No, to be honest. For me every event is the same. You’re here to win. Don’t matter what you’re playing for, really. Obviously it’s always a nice bonus, playing for more money and more points, Ryder Cup.  But you’ve got to go in with the same attitude.”

Cabrera Bello, searching for his first win since the 2017 Scottish Open, was pleased to back up his opening 67 and even more so with a second-round card sporting five birdies after his dropped shot on the par-3 7th.

You take momentum any way it comes in golf and for the 35-year-old world No.42 it came in the form of binned birdie putts from downtown on the 11th and 13th.

“Those felt like those putts that go in once every year, and they both went in,” said Cabrera Bello who amassed five top-10s last year without being able to add to his three European Tour wins.

“I mean, golf takes away from you more often than it gives you back, but when the golfing gods want to give you a little extra, you’re just happy to take it.

“I like how the round went from less to more, as in improving throughout the day and holing some really, really long putts that for sure gave me a lot of momentum. Also playing some very good golf particularly on the last holes.”

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