Rafa Cabrera Bello

Cabrera-Bello began playing golf at 6 years old in his family's backyard garden, next to a golf course in the Canary Islands. He won the Spanish National Championship in every age group. He studied business, economics and business law at the University of Las Palmas but has yet to complete his degree because his studies were interrupted by his rise through the professional golf ranks. His younger sister, Emma, plays on the Ladies European Tour. Cabrera-Bello owns a house in Bali, where he enjoys water sports.
He started playing on the European Challenge Tour in 2006. In 13 starts, he had a win, a 3rd place, and four top-10s. Finished 13th in the Order of Merit that got him on the European Tour. He struggled in 2007, making only 16 cuts in 35 starts, finished 134th in the Order of Merit, and lost his European Tour card. It was back on the Challenge Tour for 2008, where he posted a win, a 2nd and a 3rd. Finished 14th in the Order of Merit, which got him back on the European Tour.
Earned his first win at the 2009 Austrian Golf Open. He finished 39th in the Race to Dubai.
Cabrera-Bello landed the biggest victory of his career at the 2012 Omega Dubai Desert Classic. He was helped considerably by a superb 63 in the first round, and ultimately held off Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy, among others, to win with an 18-under-par total. The victory was the highlight of a consistent season in which he missed only one cut in 27 events.
2013 Notes: Played in 29 events on the European Tour, finished in the money 22 times and had three top-10s. Best finish was T-5th at the Irish Open. He won euro$767,904 and finished 41st in the Race to Dubai.
2014 Notes: Finished in the money in 21 of 24 European Tour starts. Had seven top-10s (T-9th at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, T-8th at the Volvo China Open, T-5th at the Volvo China Open, T-4th at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, T-3rd at the Qatar Masters, and T-2nd at the BMW International Open. Finished 42nd in the Race to Dubai standings.
2015 Notes: After a slow start, he didn't post his first top-25 result until he finished T-4th at the Irish Open. Followed that with a T-13th at the Nordea Masters, 2nd at the Lyoness Open, T-11th at the BMW International, and 5th at the Alstom Open de France, which was his ticket to the British Open, where he finished T-40th. He earned his last top-10 finish at the KLM Open. Ranked 42nd in the Race to Dubai.
2016 Notes: Started the year 114th in the world ranking. Thanks to a pair of runner-up finishes at the Qatar Masters and Dubai Desert Classic, he climbed to 61st. Advanced to 53rd with his T-11th finish at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. With his third-place finish at the WGC-Dell World Match Play Championship, he climbed to 36th in the world ranking and received a last-minute invitation to compete at the Masters, the only major he had never played. His check of $660,000 at the WGC-Dell Match Play is the most money he ever won in one week in professional golf. His previous high was his winning check of $415,240 (euro$315,532) at the 2012 Omega Dubai Desert Classic. He continued his good play, finishing 4th at the Shell Houston Open. Earned enough non-member FedExCup points (404) to be eligible for Special Temporary Membership on the PGA Tour for the rest of 2016. Returned to the European Tour in May and finished T-8th at the Irish Open, then 4th at the French Open. Ended his PGA Tour season with a T-5th finish at the Wyndham Championship, securing his PGA Tour card for 2017. On the European Tour, he played in 23 events and finished 8th in the Race to Dubai. Played for Spain at the Olympics, finishing T-5th. Played in the Ryder Cup, posting a 2-0-1 record in his three matches in the European team's 17-11 loss to the United States. Was the only European without a loss at Hazeltine.
2017 Notes: Started the year with a runner-up finish at the UBS Hong Kong Open, a stroke behind winner Sam Brazel. Also earned a T-6th at the Qatar Masters and T-5th at the Hero India Open. His best result on the PGA Tour was T-4th at the Players Championship, where he finished four shots behind winner Si Woo Kim. Also was T-4th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, two strokes behind winner Daniel Berger. He got his 3rd European Tour win as he shot a stunning final-round 64 at the Scottish Open and watched Callum Shinkwin bogey the 72nd hole, resulting in a playoff. Cabrera-Bello made a birdie on the first extra hole to win. The next week, he finished T-4th at the British Open. Ended his PGA Tour season 61st in the FedExCup standings. Had a T-5th result at the WGC-HSBC Championship. On the European Tour, earned euro$2,481,518 and was seventh in the Race to Dubai.
2018 Notes: Played 20 events on the PGA Tour, making 18 cuts and finishing in the top-10 five times. Finished 41st in the FedExCup rankings. On the European Tour, he played 18 events, making 14 cuts with six top-10 finishes. He ranked 21st in the Race To Dubai. Started the year on the PGA Tour T-10th at the CIMB Classic, T-11th at the CJ Cup, and then was T-5th at the WGC-HSBC Champions. In his first European Tour start at the UBS Hong Kong Open, he finished T-2nd, one stroke behind winner Wade Ormsby. Was T-6th at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and T-3rd at the WGC-Mexico Championship, a stroke away from joining the Mickelson/Thomas playoff. Was T-8th at the BMW PGA Championship and 4th at the Italian Open, four strokes behind winner Thorbjorn Olesen. Finished T-10th at the PGA Championship and T-7th at the Dell Technologies Championship.
2019 Notes: Played in 19 PGA Tour events, making 17 cuts with two top-10 finishes. Finished 70th in the FedExCup standings. On the European Tour, played in 23 events, making 16 cuts with six top-10 finishes. He was 23rd in the Race to Dubai. He started his year with a T-3rd at the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges, where he shot a pair of 65s on Saturday and Sunday to finish six strokes behind winner Brooks Koepka. Fired a final-round 63 to finish T-6th at the Honma Hong Kong Open. Was T-3rd at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, three strokes behind winner Francesco Molinari. Shot a final-round 66 at the BMW International Open and finished 2 strokes out of the Pavan/Fitzpatrick playoff. At the Dubai Duty-Free Irish Open, he finished T-4th, three strokes behind winner Jon Rahm. Shot rounds of 66-67-67-66 at the Aberdeen Standard Scottish Open to finish T-9th, four strokes out of the Wiesberger/Hevert playoff. Was T-6th at the BMW PGA Championship and two weeks later runner-up at the Mutuactivos Open de Espana, five strokes behind winner Jon Rahm. Ended the year with a T-20th at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
2020 Notes: Played in 16 PGA Tour events, making 10 cuts with no top-10 finishes. He had three top-25 finishes, the best a T-16th at the WGC-Mexico Championship. In the FedExCup standings, finished 129th. For the year, his best finish was T-12th at the Abu Dhabi Championship.
2021 Notes: Finished T-23rd at the September U.S. Open. Was 4th at the Abu Dhabi Championship, six shots back of winner Tyrrell Hatton.