This Rafa has raised the benchmark

Rafa Cabrera-Bello in action at the Dubai Desert Classic

Former champion Rafa Cabrera-Bello was pleased with the solid round of golf that he put in, in the second round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, and said that he had raised the benchmark.
The Spaniard, winner here in 2012, turned in a three-under on the day for four-under to be tied fifth along with Germany's Martin Kaymer.
Like Kaymer, Rafa Cabrera-Bello too jumped 33 spots after those four birdies and a bogey in the second round at the Majlis Course on Friday.
"It's been a very tough day again, lots of wind today (Friday). Pretty much the same intensity but kind of felt like it was all over the place. It wasn't very consistent, and also lots of gusts, so it really made it tough out there," Rafa Cabrera-Bello said after his round.
"Really, really happy with the way I played. I played very solid. Hit lots of fairways, most of the greens. Despite the wind, I stayed patient. Overall, very pleased with the 3-under," he added.
Explaining his round, he said: "It was nice to get off to a good start with birdies on 10 and 13 but then there has not really been one key moment. It was just the one mistake on 6. I bogeyed and I should have not bogeyed that hole after my drive. But I also saved a really good par on 9.
"Not just a single key moment. Good start but obviously gave me lots of patience, and the rest was just solid play."
Rafa Cabrera-Bello is in the midst of a good run. He came to Dubai on the back of a tied sixth place finish in Doha, at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters. Rafa Cabrera-Bello finished 19th in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and is currently fourth in the Race to Dubai standings.
And the 32-year-old, whose other win on the European Tour was the Austrian Golf Open in 2009, said that it was all the hard work that he had put in, that was paying off.
"I don't consider it like a stretch of form. I think that I managed to raise my golf level to what it is nowadays, and I'm just very pleased that the hard work has paid off and I have managed to improve a little bit on most of the areas of my game to make me a solid and consistent player," said Rafa Cabrera-Bello, whose best finish in the World Golf Championship was third in the Dell Match Play last year.