With an immaculate control of over his shots, the 27-year-old Spaniard closed with a tidy 68 to go under 18-under for the tournament to post the biggest win of his career since turning pro in 2005.

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World number three Westwood, who led by one shot going into the final round, and Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher shared second place after respective rounds of 70 and 69. Both had their chances to force a playoff, but missed their respective birdie putts on the closing hole.

Shaikh Mansour bin Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum presented the winner’s trophy to Cabrera-Bello in the presence Mohamed Juma Buamaim, vice chairman and CEO of golf in DUBAi, the promoters and organizers of the $2.5 million European Tour event.

Westwood, needing a birdie on the last hole to stay in the hunt, chipped in way past the hole, eventually settling for par like his playing partner Gallacher, who missed a mid-range birdie putt, thus handing Cabrera-Bello the second European Tour win of his career.

Westwood has now finished as runner-up in this event on three occasions, yet he does have the small consolation of taking the World Number Two spot back off Rory McIlroy – by 0.004 ranking points.

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Cabrera-Bello, who led in the first round after shooting a scintillating 63, becomes the third Spaniard in succession to have triumphed in Dubai, following Miguel Angel Jiménez in 2010 and Alvaro Quiros in 2011. Great Spaniard Seve Ballesterors left his indelible imprints on the Majlis course with a landmark win in 1992.

“I am really happy and proud that my name is going to be written down in the same trophy as Ballesteros and Olazábal and Jiménez and my great friend, Alvaro. It’s a really, really amazing feeling for me to be a little bit a part of the same history they are,” Cabrera-Bello said.

“With so many big, big names I felt really proud of myself. I wanted to fight, I stayed calm, I did everything that I’ve read we should do in these type of situations.

“I had ups and downs of course, but overall I think I played great. This was the quality jump I was looking for in my game and it’s offered me the opportunity to play with the world’s best players.”

Gallacher said: “I would have loved to have made the play-off. But fair play to Rafa, he played well, and 18 under is a good score in these conditions.

“I struggled a bit off the tee today but I hit a lot of good iron shots and made a few putts at the right time. But I had a chance to sort of get into the play-off on the last, so (I’m) just a wee bit disappointed but happy overall.”

McIlroy – the 2009 champion – dropped out of contention early on, but picked up four shots on the way home to claim a share of fifth on 14 under, one behind Germany’s Marcel Siem.

Alongside McIlroy were Denmark’s Søren Kjeldsen, whose 67 featured six birdies, Scotland’s Scott Jamieson and South Africa’s George Coetzee.

Martin Kaymer, who began the day two adrift of Westwood on 13 under, may have realised it wasn’t going to be his day when he missed presentable birdie chances on each of the first three holes. Although he did pick up a shot on the short fourth, he went on to sign for a 74 that left him in a tie for 13th.

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Rafael Cabrera-Bello … at a glance

• His second European Tour International Schedule victory in his 151st European Tour event.
• Moves to €336,412 in The Race to Dubai.
• Could move to around 60th in the Official World Golf Ranking, from 119th.
• With results to be confirmed from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, he could claim a place in the 2012 WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship.

• His first European Tour victory since the 2009 Austrian Golf Open.
• Since his win in Austria, he has played 72 European Tour events between victories.
• From those 72 events, his best finish was second in the 2011 Portugal Masters.
• Victory in his fourth appearance at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, beating his previous best of tied 20th in 2011.
• The third consecutive Spanish player to win the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, following Miguel Angel Jiménez in 2010 and Alvaro Quiros in 2011.

OTHER FACTS

His win represented the first time Spain have won the same European Tour event for three consecutive years since the Mallorca Classic, when Miguel Angel Jiménez won in 2003, Sergio Garcia in 2004 and José María Olazábal in 2005.

• The fifth Spanish player to win the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, following Seve Ballesteros in 1992, José María Olazábal in 1998, Miguel Angel Jiménez in 2010 and Alvaro Quiros in 2011. This means Spain have the most wins by a single country in the event.
• The 20th different winner in the history of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
• The first winner in 2012 not to lead or share the lead going into the final round.
• The 164th Spanish victory on The European Tour.
• Gains a two year European Tour exemption until the end of 2014.
• Gains his biggest European Tour prize of €315,532.
• Gains a place in the 2012 Bridgestone Invitational and 2012 WGC – HSBC Champions as well as a possible place in the 2012 WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship.
• His fifth win as a professional.