Rock predicts Tiger roll

The Englishman recorded a memorable victory over Woods last weekend after he went head-to-head with American and got the better of him down the stretch at the Abu Dhabi Championship.

"It was a fantastic week for me and unbelieveably exciting to play with Tiger Woods on Sunday and I'm amazed I managed to win the tournament," Rock told Sky Sports News.

It was only the 34-year-old from Litchfield's second European Tour title, but eclipsed his efforts in winning the Italian Open last season as he held off not only Woods but also world number two Rory McIlroy to emerge victorious.

Rock held his nerve in impressive fashion to close out a one-shot victory and pinpointed a superb approach from a fairway bunker at the 16th hole as perhaps the key moment.

"It was really difficult, I've obviously watched Tiger Woods win many, many tournaments and he always does something spectacular and you're aware he's capable of doing stuff like that right to the very end," he continued.

"You have to be really, really focused. I just hoped I could still play my game and I played pretty well on Sunday.

"It was pretty close, but I managed to hit a couple of good shots right at the end and birdied the 16th which gave me a three-shot lead.

"That was probably the best shot I've ever hit in to that hole and that gave me just enough of a cushion to just win by one in the end because the 18th is pretty difficult."

Major-winning form

But although he managed to get one over Woods, Rock believes the 14-major champion is poised to rediscover the kind of form that saw him become the world's most dominant player.

"Maybe the fourth round didn't go quite to plan for him, but his play over the first three days was very, very good and the statistics prove that his swing is where he wants it to be."
Robert Rock on Tiger Woods Quotes of the week

Asked if Woods was close to major-winning form again, he added: "Yeah, absolutely, he's well underway with doing that.

"Maybe the fourth round didn't go quite to plan for him, but his play over the first three days was very, very good and the statistics prove that his swing is where he wants it to be.

"I was just lucky to be the one that won on Sunday, but I think you'll be seeing a lot more victories from Tiger pretty soon.

"He was great to play with, he was very complimentary about any good shots I hit so that made things a bit easier for me."

The two men could now be going head-to-head in golf's ultimate theatre later in the year with Rock's triumph sparking talk of a possible push for a Ryder Cup place.

The Midlander admits that still remains, in his eyes, a distant dream, but one he will take great pleasure in trying to achieve.

"That's one extra step that I wasn't quite ready for I guess, the Ryder Cup questions," he said.

"I'm in with a shout of doing it, but there's a long season to go and I'll have to perform very, very well if I'm going to qualify as it's only the very best who get to play in that team, and rightly so.

"I've got a lot of work left to do that but it's amazing just to have an opportunity to qualify now."