Rafa Cabrera-Bello is looking to cap off his stellar year at the Hong Kong Open, where he led at the halfway stage after shooting 65 on Friday.
‘I just need to keep giving myself chances. I have been working on some mistakes that maybe I have done on other occasions. I don’t think I’m doing anything wrong not to get the win, so it will happen. Hopefully it will happen in two days’ time,’ he said.
The Spaniard hasn’t missed a cut on the European Tour in 2016 and won two of three matches in his Ryder Cup debut in October.
This week at Hong Kong Golf Club he’s been equally impressive, making one bogey in two rounds, courtesy of his impressive ball striking.
It could be hard to beat a guy that’s swinging this well.#UBSHKOpen pic.twitter.com/XjLuCaDMfH
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 9, 2016
He was three shots clear of second-placed Sam Brazel and five ahead of third-placed Justin Walters, who was tied on six under par with Tommy Fleetwood, Danny Willett, and Paul Peterson.
‘In the past I haven’t had too much to grow on around this course,’ said Walters. ‘I built a good strategy this year and stuck to it, and made a few more putts this time. I’m happy with where things are going.’
The South African shot consecutive rounds of 67 to make the weekend in contention, and his focus shifted to chasing the lead.
‘Rafa’s put daylight between himself and the rest of us, but hopefully we can put a bit of pressure on him this weekend. All we can do is keep going the same way we’ve been doing it these last two rounds,’ he said.
Walters wrapped up the 2016 Race to Dubai with a share of 31st at the Turkish Airlines Open, took three weeks off, and then missed the cut at the Alfred Dunhill Championship.
He shrugged off the rust in Hong Kong this week and will be looking for a top-five result before the holidays.
‘I had a good finish to the season, a little disappointing to not get to my home one in the Nedbank (Golf Challenge), but for the most part really happy with the way things ended,’ he said.
‘It’s imperative to take a break, otherwise it moulds into one and feels like the same season. I came here and put in a good effort on Tuesday, Wednesday to get ready, so I’m quite happy with the start,’ he concluded.
