Spanish star Rafael Cabrera Bello made it three straight wins for his country in the prestigious Dubai Desert Classic to become the latest European Tour star to clinch his place in the 2013 Volvo Golf Champions.

He is a man with a famous name, Rafael, like his tennis champion compatriot Nadal, and Cabrera, in keeping with the legendary Argentinean golfer Ángel, but Rafael Cabrera Bello is now a star in his own right.

Having held-off a start-studded field including world numbers two and three Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy and his fellow Spaniard Miguel Ángel Jiménez to claim his second European Tour win and the biggest pay-day of his career to date.

The 27-year-old Cabrera Bello, who hails from Gran Canaria, overhauled Westwood on the final day of the Dubai Desert Classic to win €315,532, taking him to fourth on the Race to Dubai Rankings and 60th in the world.

Cabrera Bello joins Ballesteros (1992), Jose Maria Olazábal (1998), Miguel Ángel Jiménez (2010) and defending champion Álvaro Quirós as winners of the oldest event in the Middle East, making it three-in-a-row for Spain.

And he dedicated his win to the late Severiano Ballasteros, saying, “I am sure Seve will be very pleased that Spanish golf is in such a strong condition,” adding, “Seve has been an inspiration to not only golfers from Spain but to golfers around the world.

“He also has been responsible for this new generation of Spanish players competing now on the European,” continued the newly crowned Dubai Desert Classic champion, paying tribute also to his Spanish contemporaries on the circuit too.

“Players like my good friend Álvaro (Quirós), Pablo (Larrázabal) and Gonzalo Fernandez Castaño,” he said, concluding, “I am just so proud to have my name now on the same trophy as Seve, José Maria, Miguel and Álvaro.”

Rafael Cabreta Bello becomes the fifth name on the frame for the 2013 Volvo Golf Champions, following South Africans Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace, England’s Robert Rock and Scotsman Paul Lawrie as eligible for the European Tour’s ‘Tournament of Champions.’

Fast Facts
· Rafael Cabrera Bello’s victory in the Dubai Desert Classic was the 164th Spanish victory on the European Tour, a record only bettered by England and South Africa.
· In addition to ensuring his eligibility in the ‘Champions Only’ Volvo Golf Champions next year, Rafael Cabrera Bello’s victory in Dubai earned him a place in the this year’s WGC Bridgestone Invitational and 2012 WGC - HSBC Champions as well as a possible place in the forthcoming WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship.