This week I have accepted a sponsor’s invite and will be playing in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in Louisiana with a prizefund of $8.3 million on the PGA Tour.
I am paired in this team event with my fellow Spanish-speaking good friend Emilio Grillo (Argentina). This week’s tournament has an alternating round four-ball and foursomes format. The first and third rounds will be four-ball and the second and final rounds will be foursomes.
The field has 80 teams of two players in each team. After 36 holes there will be a cut to the leading 33 teams and ties. Interestingly the event, despite being a team format, does carry FedExCup points.
I am a fan of team events, having always enjoyed them over the years.
I am sure all the fans will appreciate this different and innovative format that encourages attacking golf in the four-balls and foursomes, which is the alternate shot format, which is the interesting one.
Team performance
Looking back on my career as an amateur and as a pro, I have played in many team events: the Eisenhower Trophy, representing Spain, in both 2000 and 2004, the World Cup in 2013 and 2016, the EurAsia Cup in 2018, and of course, in 2016, the highlight of them all, representing Europe in The Ryder Cup.
Hopefully, my experiences in The Ryder Cup and elsewhere in this format will add some value to our collective team performance. I researched Emilio’s CV and noticed that he has played in the Eisenhower Trophy twice (2008, 2010) as well as the 2013 World Cup and the Presidents Cup in 2017. I am comfortable that Emilio and myself will make a strong pairing.
Defending champions this week are the Aussie pairing of Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman.
Also in the field is the world No 1 and Masters Champion Scottie Scheffler, who will partner fellow American Ryan Palmer.
Other pairings of interest include: 2021 DP World Tour Championship winner Collin Morikawa will be playing with 2022 Sync.io Dubai Desert Classic Champion Viktor Hovland in a ‘Dubai’ pairing, as well as Danny Willett and Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry and DP World Ambassador Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose.
100 bunkers over 250 acres
I played this event on the same golf course in 2018 along with my fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia. The course we are playing is the TPC Louisiana, par 72, 7,425 yards, designed by Pete Dye features 100 bunkers and stretches over 250 acres of wetlands.
We missed the cut after shooting 67 and 73, so scoring is always low.
The following week (April 28 — May 1), I am playing in the Mexico Open at Vidanta, again through an invite on the PGA Tour, with a prizefund of $7.3 million.
Wish me luck and speak to you all soon!
— Rafa Cabrera Bello is a Dubai Golden VISA Awardee and Dubai resident. The 37 year old has a base in Dubai, currently stands at 123 in the OWGR and is a four time DP World Tour champion, including the 2012 Dubai Desert Classic and represented Europe in the 2016 Ryder Cup.
