Pablo Larrazabal (left), Ali Fakhri and Rafa Cabrera-Bello are schooled in the art of Arabic calligraphy during the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club

By Sports Reporter/Doha


Spanish stars Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Pablo Larrazabal sampled a little local culture at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters after receiving a lesson in Arabic calligraphy at the end of the second round at Doha Golf Club on Thursday.
“It’s nice to try things like this. It’s fun,” said Cabrera-Bello, who has twice finished third at the tournament, including last year when he missed the playoff by one shot.
Cabrera-Bello explained why he and many other Spanish stars enjoy the US$2.5 million tournament, which sits at the heart of The European Tour’s desert swing.
“It’s just like back home. It’s sunshine normally, a little breezy, we play in short sleeves and I kind of like that the fact that there’s sand all around,” said Cabrera-Bello, a two-time European Tour winner.
The Spaniard considers the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters one of his favourite tournaments and said he has always felt at home on the Doha Golf Club’s Peter Harradine-designed layout.
“I think it’s a long hitter’s course,” he said. “I’m not the longest hitter, but I would consider myself one of the longer hitters. I also like it because there’s a lot of wedge play if you’re driving well and my wedge play tends to be good. As well as those things, the course suits my eye. The first time I came here, I liked it and I’ve enjoyed myself every time I’m here.”
Rafa was in second place after his first-round 66 and after a second-round 73, he was just four shots off the lead before a 70 in yesterday’s third round pushed him down to tied 15th going intoday’s final round.
“I’ve been close a couple of times, had a couple of top-threes here,” he said. “It’s one of my flagship events.”