PAUL MAHONEY
E-MAIL PAUL
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES | Who
would have thought that the person most
qualified to pass judgment on who is the
better player between Tiger Woods and
Rory McIlroy is a 34-year-old former driving range professional from the English
Midlands. The former Swingers pro (insert
your own Tiger gag here) is Robert Rock,
Europe’s latest superstar with hair so perfect he doesn’t want a hat contract.
Rock has had quite an education these
past three weeks. First, he got up close
and personal with Woods in the final group
of the Abu Dhabi Championship – and beat
him to win. Then, his new VIP status saw
him paired with McIlroy for the first two
rounds of the Dubai Desert Classic.
So, which player is the best? The sorcerer or the apprentice?
“Ah, you can’t ask me that,” Rock said
with a laugh. “That’s not fair.” He took a
diplomatic pause for thought. “I am sure
we are going to see some interesting
battles between the two this year. Both
are just brilliant in every department,” he
said. “Rory was fantastic. From the ninth
onwards on Thursday he played perfect
golf,” Rock said after witnessing McIlroy’s
66 then bogey-free 65. “I feel lucky to have
been up close to watch it. Makes the game
look simple, especially off the tee. He is
probably the best driver of a ball I’ve seen.
He made my 67 look average.”
Rock took nine years to get on a roll.
He won his first tournament last year at
the Italian Open, but holding off Woods
and McIlroy in Abu Dhabi prompted the
“Rocky” and “Rock Star” headlines and
transformed his life. Rock told a tale of
how he was so poor in the late 1990s that
he used to share low-budget guesthouse
rooms with three colleagues while playing
around the UK in assistant professional
championships. Last week in Dubai, he
signed a two-year contract to represent
Abu Dhabi’s six-star Emirates Palace
Hotel (five stars clearly just doesn’t cut it,
these days).
four hours to Heathrow Airport but got
stuck in a snowstorm that brought traffic
to a standstill on the M25 motorway that
encircles London. The four-hour journey
took 12 hours; he slept in his car for four
while kids built snowmen on the road.
Beating Tiger has opened up a new
world to the likeable Englishman. He has
propelled himself just outside the world’s
top 50, which earns him invites to the
World Golf Championships and all the majors except The Masters. He is still dining
out as The Man Who Beat Tiger.
“It felt like I should be watching him
on TV doing his fist pump thing
and running across the green.
But, obviously, I was
right there playing
with him,” Rock
said. “He was an
absolute gent to
play with. I as-
sumed it might
be a little more
difficult. He could
definitely make
it more difficult
if he chose to. If
he wasn’t as polite.”
Rock is also The Man With No Hat. And
he plans to keep it that way even though
offers have been on the table. He said
he’d turn down $1 million. “I’m waiting
for the hair deal,” he said with a laugh.
Presumably, because he thinks he’s worth
it. Clinging on to a semblance of his old
world is clearly important for Rock.
“As much as I love what I do, and give
it 100 percent, at the same time I would
still like to be able to do normal stuff,”
Rock said. “It’s quite nice to go to the bar
after you’ve been playing and just chill
out with a few beers.” Rock is raising the
bar with his goals, too. “It has made me
realize tournaments are not going to get
much more difficult than that (Abu Dhabi).
Unless it’s a major and playing with Tiger
again. At least I have taught myself I can
play well under those circumstances.”
Rock finished well down the field at 3-un-
der par in Dubai, probably still suffering
from an Abu Dhabi hangover.
All this new attention will take time
to get used to. Rock is relaxed enough
to enjoy the ride but he admitted it still
feels like an out-of-body experience. “It
feels weird sometimes playing in front of
so many people,” he said. “I understand
people want to watch Tiger but I some-
times feel like a little bit of a sideshow.”
Not anymore he isn’t. Welcome to the
Big Leagues. Next stop on his world tour
is the WGC-Accenture Match Play Cham-
pionship in Tucson, Arizona next week. A
Rock Star is born. l
