“My playing career is 05 a credit to The PGA”
JANUARY 2012. It’s the final round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, where one of the strongest fields of the European Tour season has assembled. The chasing pack includes Ryder Cup stars Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Thomas Bjorn, Paul Lawrie, Francesco Molinari and Peter Hanson.
In the final group? Tiger Woods and Robert Rock, two shots clear of the field.
Rock, the then 34-year-old from Lichfield, Staffordshire, did not even expect to win himself.
“It would be more than I ever expected to achieve,” he said, when asked to rate his chances of victory after a third round of 66. On the final day, one of the leading pair would fall back into the pack, eventually signing for a 72. Incredibly, though, that man would be Woods, the then 14-time major champion, while Rock held off the charge of McIlroy to win by a shot. The winner’s cheque was almost £300,000 and took Rock to the brink of the top 50 of the world rankings and with a very real chance
