LEE WESTWOOD was left the nearly man in Dubai again yesterday as Rafael Cabrera-Bello, ranked 116 places below him, pulled off another European Tour shock.
Two weeks after England’s Robert Rock beat Tiger Woods and the world’s top four in Abu Dhabi the 27-year-old Canary Islander became the Omega Desert Classic champion with a bogey-free closing 68 at The Emirates.
Third round leader Westwood finished runner-up in the event for the third time after failing to birdie any of the last five holes.
He does have the small consolation, however, of taking the world number two spot back off fifth-placed Rory McIlroy – by 0.004 ranking points.
Joint halfway leader McIlroy resumed only two behind, but three-putted the first and gave himself too much to do after going in the water and double-bogeying the ninth. The 22-year-old US Open champion did come home in a four-under 33, but it was German Marcel Siem who came fourth and McIlroy tied with Gallacher’s compatriot Scott Jamieson, South African George Coetzee and Dane Soren Kjeldsen.
Even at the long 18th a play-off looked likely, but off a fine drive the Worksop golfer went left of the green, chipped nearly 25 feet past the flag and missed the putt.
Scot Stephen Gallacher could still deny Cabrera-Bello a result, but after laying up from the rough he missed his 12-foot birdie attempt. That made the 37-year-old joint second with Westwood and means he still has only one victory on the circuit in 379 starts going back almost two decades.
Cabrera-Bello became the third Spanish winner of the title in a row after Miguel Angel Jimenez and Alvaro Quiros – Jimenez beat Westwood in a play-off – and he had to wait to see if it was good enough to put him into the 64-man Accenture World Match Play Championship in Arizona the week after next.
It was his second Tour win, the first coming with a record-equalling closing round of 60 in the Austrian Open three years ago.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling and it’s been a really spectacular week for me,” said Cabrera-Bello, remembering that he began it with nine birdies in 11 holes.
“I stayed calm, I did everything that I’ve read we should do in these type of situations. I had ups and downs of course, but overall I think I played great.”
Following his birdies at the 11th and 12th, it was Cabrera-Bello’s nine-foot putt for another on the 17th that proved the decisive blow, Westwood missing from seven.
Peter Lawrie and Gareth Maybin both finished in a tie for 28th place following final rounds of 70. Damien McGrane closed with a 72 while Shane Lowry slumped to a final 77.
