Dubai: Rafael Cabrera-Bello may be leading by two strokes after day one of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic thanks to an immaculate nine under par-63, but the young Spaniard is under no illusions when it comes to maintaining his advantage over some of the biggest names in golf in the next three days.
The 27-year-old Gran Canarian is a winner of just one previous European Tour event — the Austrian Open in 2009 — but his inexperience and world ranking of 119 was forgotten as he fired two short of a course record yesterday, including nine birdies in his first 11 holes.
Despite finishing on par in the remaining seven, Cabrera-Bello held onto the lead comfortably at the 23rd $2.5 million (Dh9.18 million) Omega Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club's Majlis Course.
But, with Marcel Siem and Scott Jamieson trailing just two shots behind on seven under 65, the Spaniard isn't gloating just yet. And bunched at six under par are the likes of Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy, Thomas Bjorn and Nicolas Colsaerts.
Cabrera-Bello said: "I don't think that anyone who plays good on the first day of the tournament can think about winning. In fact I'm sure that's the one thing you shouldn't do.
"You only need to think about how many times the first round leader actually ends up winning and it's not a good percentage.
Great feeling
"I'm aware of that, I'm just happy I played well. If you asked me if I want to be in this position every tournament, I'd say yes, because it's nice, but in the end it doesn't mean anything."
Cabrera-Bello added: "There's lots of great players here, much better players than me, and if I shot nine under they can do it as well. It's a great feeling but tomorrow is another day.
"I'm going to have to take the nine under out of my mind and just go and play. I'm not going to look for a particular score, I'm just going to look for the same feelings of confidence.
"For sure I'm going to need to play well tomorrow, the next day and the day after. I mean we're not even halfway through. Many things can happen. I just need to take one step at a time."
Asked if he had tried to break 60 in his round — an earlier personal best achieved at his sole European Tour win in 2009 — Cabrera-Bello said: "It came through my mind for a second, not really the 60 but to say I was nine under after 11, so can I get to 59? But then I took it out quickly as a silly thought. I just thought, play as you've been doing, play one shot at a time, and I'm glad I stopped thinking about it."
