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POSTED BY EIZ ON THURSDAY, 19 JANUARY, 2012, 7:14 AM
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Robert Rock, ranked 117th in the world, shoots a two-under 70 to hold off Rory McIlroy and Woods,
who closes with a 72. Tiger Woods waits on the seventh tee during the final round of the Abu Dhabi
HSBC Golf Championship on Sunday.
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TIGER WOODS
POSTED BY EIZ ON THURSDAY, 19 JANUARY, 2012, 7:14 AM
Tiger Woods waits on the seventh tee
during the final round of the Abu Dhabi
HSBC Golf Championship on Sunday.
(Scott Halleran / Getty Images)
January 29, 2012, 6:15 a.m.ABU DHABI,
United Arab Emirates -- Robert Rock held
his nerve Sunday to beat U.S. Open
champion Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods
at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship for
the biggest win of the Englishman's
career.
The 117th-ranked Rock shot a two-under 70 for an overall 13-under 275 to beat the 22-year
Northern Irishman by a shot and the 14-time major winner by two. Woods finished in a tie for third
with Thomas Bjorn (68) and Graeme McDowell (68).
Woods started the final round tied for the lead with the unheralded Rock. He appeared poised to
win his second tournament in a row after ending a two-year winless drought with a victory last
month at the Chevron World Challenge.
"I didn't hit the ball as well as I would like to," Woods said. "Today I was just a touch off. I was
righting the ball through the fairways. I was hitting the ball a little bit further than I thought I would
So something to look at, and something to try and figure out."
Woods started strong and it looked like he might pull away from Rock, sinking a 40-footer on No. 2
for a birdie and then chipping to within a foot of the cup for a second birdie on the 3rd. But Rock --
who said Saturday he was a bit overwhelmed to face his idol -- didn't blink. He also birdied the first
two of three holes to keep pace.
He started spraying his drives into the thick rough and fairway bunkers, resulting in the first of three
bogeys. When Woods wasn't missing the fairways, he was scrambling to save par as he did on
the 11th when overshooting the green. As he approached his shot in deep rough just off the 11th
green, he sighed heavily and let out a stream of obscenities under his breath.
Woods managed to save par on 11 by sinking a 12-footer and Rock just missed a birdie putt.
Woods pumped his fist and appeared to be regaining the momentum when he pulled within one
shot of Rock on No. 13 when the Englishman had one of his three bogeys. But the 34-year-old