Golf-Spaniard forgets visa, baggage woes in dream major debut (Reuters)
June 18, 2010
By Larry Fine
PEBBLE BEACH, California, June 17 (Reuters) – UnheraldedSpaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello fired an opening 70 to lie a shotoff the lead at the U.S. Open on Thursday following a week ofvisa and baggage trouble.
After missing his original flight due to visa problems andhaving to wait a day for his clubs to arrive in California, the26-year-old made a dream major championship debut at PebbleBeach.
The Canary Islands-native carded four birdies and threebogeys to walk off the Pacific coast course one behindco-leaders Paul Casey of Britain, Zimbabwe’s Brendon de Jongeand American Shaun Micheel.
Cabrera-Bello said he allowed himself a peek at theleaderboard just for fun and was thrilled to see his name ontop.
“I could only dream about a day like this,” a grinningCabrera-Bello told reporters. “I maybe imagined it when I waseight or nine years old but never expected something likethis.”
Cabrera-Bello, who won his maiden European Tour event lastyear with a final-round 60 at the Austrian Open, had toovercome some tiresome red tape to begin his Pebble Beachadventure.
After arriving at Madrid airport from the Canary Islands,visa problems kept him from his scheduled flight. After a nightat his uncle’s house, he continued his journey.
MISSING CLUBS
When the Spaniard landed in San Francisco, his clubs weremissing.
“My clubs spent the night in Philadelphia,” he said afterusing borrowed wedges to casually explore the course on Monday.
He launched his U.S. Open quest in the first group to teeoff from the 10th tee at 0700 local time.
“When I started off there were some guys, surprisingly afew guys,” the slender Spaniard said about the Pebble Beachgallery. “I don’t think they came to see me.”
Cabrera-Bello, who won the Spanish national championshipevery year from the under-seven to under-18 level, isdetermined to enjoy himself.
“It was just a pleasure. Just stay calm like it’s any otherround,” said Cabrera-Bello, who went four under par over thelast seven holes of European qualifying for a U.S. Open berth.
Asked what he expected of himself, he said: “Absolutelynothing. I would be a fool to expect anything. I’m just goingto learn a lot just from being here and do as good as I can.” (Editing by Alastair Himmer; To query or comment on thisstory email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
Tee it up with Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Golf 10