Abu Dhabi Golf Champion Robert Rock speaks to the Winner’s Press Conference
The newly crowned king of Abu Dhabi, Englishman Robert Rock still cannot believe that he has actually taken over the strongest foes on the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship field to land the glorious title last week.
Rock was speaking at the Winner’s Press Conference after his stellar performance over the week which saw him rise to an all time high of 55th on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).
Rock said, “It's pretty hard to believe that I managed to win today, I’m very surprised. It doesn't get an awful lot harder than playing with Tiger Woods, so I guess barring a Major Championship, I know I can handle that again and that's nice to know”.
Rock, who has been playing professional golf since 1998, has won just one event on the European Tour, the BMW Italian Open in June 2011.
An early breakthrough in the year can take him to an altogether different level of confidence and probably would help him land more titles before closing the year.
The 34-year-old Englishman open-heartedly admitted that he has spent hours watching Tiger Woods pull in those major titles at the Swingers Golf Centre, in Tamworth, where he used to work as a teacher and a bar tender.
It was an overwhelming experience for Rock to play alongside Woods and actually defeat the giant.
He added, “But, he's such a good player that if he decides to play his very, very best, you're probably not going to beat him. I think it just didn't quite go his way, and it was my day, thankfully for me”.
On a question of how he felt after defeating Woods, Rock replied with his usual down-to-earth tone, “Well it would be more than I ever expected to achieve”.
The formidable Rock has not won the title out of sheer luck, instead the Englishman has earned it with his relentless pursuit of glory in the sport.
Taking down the Italian title last year, Rock performed well overall and pulled in strong finishes earlier this season.
He was top-eighth at 2011 Dubai World Championship presented by DP World and also pulled in impressive performances in South Africa at the start of the current season.
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