Tiger Gets Rocked
by Adam Fonseca on Jan 29, 2012 6:57 PM EST
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Another lesson for Tiger Woods: saying you have had "great ball control this week" doesn't really sit well when you come out on Sunday and have anything but "great ball control".
Woods faltered on the final round of the Abu Dhabi Championship after entering Sunday with a tie for the lead to win his second title in as many starts. When all the smoke cleared, however, it was Robert Rock (ranked 117th in the world) who would shoot a final-round 70 - while paired with Tiger - to come out on top and finish a shot over Rory McIlroy (69). Woods (72) would tie for third along with Graeme McDowell (68) and Thomas Bjorn (68).
"Today I just didn't give myself enough looks at it," Woods said. "Most of my putts were lag putts. I didn't drive the ball in as many fairways as I should have ... It was a day I was just a touch off the tee and consequently I couldn't get the ball close enough."
Prior to today's win, Englishman Robert Rock had only one victory in his career in comparison to his final round playing partner Woods, who boasts 83 wins. To say that Rock holding off Woods was surprising would be an understatement, even according to Rock:
"It's pretty hard to believe that I managed to win today. Very surprised," the Englishman said. "I played good. So I guess I had a chance from early on, a couple of birdies made the day feel a little bit easier."
"But it's difficult playing with Tiger. You expect almost every shot to threaten to go in. It felt a lot of pressure and couldn't afford any lapses in concentration at all."
Rock did have a scare on the final hole after driving his tee shot far-right and into the hazard lining the 18th fairway. While he did have a chance to play the ball lying near a small bush and stone, Rock made the smart play and hit his third shot farther back from the point-of-entry and laid up. One shot and two putts later, Rock found himself in the winner's circle.
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Definitely improved, definitely had a chance to win this one, but his swing failed him miserably today.
All in all, he’s playing better, but by no means is he back to being an indomitable force.
it's between the ears...
The swing isn’t the problem – he was 11 under the first three rounds. The swing served him very well those days. He didn’t play well Sunday, but it was the grey matter that let him down.
If at first you don't secede, try try again
Rock on Robert!
Kudos to RR for keeping his cool whilst playing with TW for the first time. Tense morning for me being a RR fan. That followed by the Djokovic/Nadal tennis final made for a great sports(watching) day.
PS That bush & stone in the hazard at 18 didn’t look so small to me – bet they looked even bigger to Robert!
With such a small gallery, Rock did not get the full Tiger effect. Let’s see how he does if it happens again at the Player’s or at Augusta.
by Charles Boyer on Jan 30, 2012 9:41 AM EST up reply actions
Robert Rock was a massive underdog..........
He held his nerve under pressure,hell he hasnt even made the cut the last twice he played Abu Dhabi.It was a great achievement for him-Woods wasnt the only one trying to chase him down.
The ‘small gallery’ comment is a unwarranted and catty
by scrumsndswings on Jan 30, 2012 10:54 AM EST up reply actions
Whaddya mean “nobody there” ? Just about everybody in attendance was around the Woods – Rock – and…anybody ? anybody ? Peter Hanson (and his 78) group. :-D
If at first you don't secede, try try again
Court
If anyone showed up at the gate, wearing a red shirt, they got in to the tournament for free, all four days. Yabba Dabba Doobie isn’t exactly a needle moving place for golf, but the prize money is good ;o)
"pain is only weakness leaving the body" jumpn
"Fan" Tastic
Robert Rocked it !!!
No Fear from any of the players anymore when paired with Tiger.. Renton Laidlaw lost a lot of respect from me this week when he insulted Montey about his weight. Rolly Polly Laidlaw has no room to talk about being fat.
Also Laidlaw all but handed TW the tournament Sunday before the round even started. He then continued his bias cheerleading while downplaying and hoping that Robert Rock would fail.
I was a fan of Laidlaw prior to Yabba Dabba Doobie. Not any more
"pain is only weakness leaving the body" jumpn
Even our British commentators
thought Robert would fold on the back nine and hand it to TW. On some golf websites there was even talk of a Van de Velde 18th. As you can tell, I’m very proud of Robert’s resolute play yesterday as I have followed him for years. Hope it will stand him in good stead.
And a big boost for our Euro office open since last April.
Timing is everything they say, Darren Clark, Open Champion, Rory, US OPEN, Robert Rock ,
Luke Donald, record breaking year. etc etc
"pain is only weakness leaving the body" jumpn
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