Masters Debutantes – 8 Rookies Who Made the Cut

Round 1 – 74   Round 2 – 73   Leaderboard Status – T33

Rafa Cabrera-Bello has been busily making his presence known on this side of the Atlantic in the last 30 days. The Spaniard who seems to be channeling Seve got his ticket to the Masters punched when he finished 3rd at the WGC-Dell Match Play. He followed up that performance with a top-5 finish at the Shell Houston Open and that got him Temporary Member Status on the PGA TOUR for the remainder of the 2015-16 season.

This must all feel like a major turning point to a man who’s struggled through an up and down, roller coaster kind of career for a decade.

Still, for a man who had no plans to compete in the Masters prior to his appearance in Austin, Cabrera-Bello is playing some very respectable golf. He’s just 3 shots over Old Man Par and on a day when there were no sub-par rounds, one-over par is a better than average score.

I enjoy Cabrera-Bello’s style. He brings an appealing blend of dispassionate focus and killer instinct to the game but I get the feeling as I watch him that his target is always the golf course rather than his playing opponent.

Next: Romain Langasque