Indian Golfers Are Naturals - Rafa Cabrera Bello

He is, at #25, the highest-ranked golfer to participate in the Hero Indian Open since Colin Montgomerie of Scotland, who was ranked 16th when he competed at Delhi Golf Club in 2006.

- Rohit Bhardwaj

Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello battled it out on the challenging DLF Golf & Country Club for the 53rd edition of our national open to finish a creditable tied fifth on a course which instilled fear in the minds of many prominent names with its undulations, deep bunkers and large water bodies cutting into fairways. Rafa exclusively spoke to Golf Digest India on a variety of topics from his targets in 2017, his fitness regime and his Ryder Cup experience to his opinion on top Indian golfers Anirban Lahiri and SSP Chawrasia. Excerpts from the interview:

GDI: How did you get into golf and who was your inspiration?

RCB: I got in to golf by chance. One day my uncle came to my parents’ house with a golf club and a plastic ball. He and my dad just started swinging in the back yard and obviously what happens to most people is that it looks easier than it really is. So my dad got into it. He fell in love with the complexity of golf. It’s not just a sport of… well, ultimately the aim is to hit a ball into a hole but around that there is this really passionate world and really intriguing sport. That’s what he enjoyed about it and we started – I say we because it’s my brother and sister as well – when we were very young going to a golf course that was close to home. It kept growing from then on… I grew up watching videos of Seve (Ballesteros), hearing tales of him as well. But the one thing that inspired me or got me dreaming of turning pro was watching Jose Maria Olazabal winning the Masters in 1994 and 1999.

GDI: Rafa what is it that you love about Asia?