Unheralded Englishman Robert Rock won the Abu Dhabi Championship yesterday to deny Tiger Woods the win he was seeking to end a two-year winless drought at a full tournament.
The world’s 117th-ranked player fired a closing two-under 70 for a total of 13-under par total of 275.
That gave the 34-year-old a one-stroke win over Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, who fired a final 69.
Photo: Reuters
Woods, with a par 72, finished tied for third a further stroke back, level with Thomas Bjorn (68) and Graeme McDowell (68).
It was a stunning, against-the-odds win for the Englishman, a former club pro in the East Midlands, who had admitted to feeling starry-eyed after learning on Saturday that he would be playing with the American in the final grouping.
“I can’t believe I have done this. It’s such an amazing feeling,” Rock said. “I surprised myself early on as I was very nervous, but I hit some good shots and then thought to myself — why not? I have been struggling to crack the 100 [world ranking] mark, but I reckon I have just done that.”
Rock and Woods shared the lead at 11-under to start the day and battled it out over the final 18 holes, with Rock edging ahead at the fourth hole and standing firm after that in the line of fire from Woods and late on from McIlroy.
For Woods, it was a bitter blow as he had looked set to win a full tournament for the first time since November 2009.
It was at last year’s Masters that Woods sustained the leg injury that sidelined him for most of the year before he finally returned to the winners’ circle at the Chevron World Challenge in California early last month.
However, that was only an 18-man invitation event that Woods himself organized for the benefit of his charitable foundation.
Woods opened well, sinking a 50-foot putt for a birdie at the second and picking up another shot at the third.
Rock, playing for the first time with Woods, stuck to him with birdies of his own at the second and third.
And when Woods stumbled with back-to-back bogeys at the next two holes, Rock suddenly found himself two strokes clear of the field.
He then birdied the sixth to go three clear against all the odds as Woods settled for a par.
The American cut the deficit to one by the turn, but a bogey at the 10th saw him slip back to two behind.
The rest of the back nine was a tense affair, but with Woods more wayward off the tee than he had been in the first three rounds, Rock was able to maintain his lead despite not playing his best golf.
He had a three-shot lead with two holes to play and despite a wild drive on the 18th, he held on for the best win of his career.
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