• Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, Round Four

Rock holds steady to defeat Woods & McIlroy

Robert Rock just about held his nerve to win © Getty Images

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• Profile: Rory McIlroy | Robert Rock | Tiger Woods

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Robert Rock held off the faltering challenges of both Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods to win the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship by one shot on Sunday.

Rock, whose only previous win on the European Tour came at last year's Italian Open, moved into an early lead after a blistering start to his final round - and held his nerve better than his more vaunted rivals to close out the tournament at 13-under, after a final round of 70.

The win did not come without a scare, however, as Rock was immensely fortunate not to find the water at the last following a nervy tee-shot - but he made the most of that piece of good fortune to safely bogey the final hole and win by one shot.

"I can't believe I've done it today - it's such an amazing feeling," Rock said. "I was just happy to be playing with Tiger Woods today, that was just a special honour in itself. I started really well - I kind of surprised myself - and then I thought, 'Why not?'

"I was expecting some pressure [from the others] ... it's an amazing tournament to win, I haven't done well here in the past so I'm pretty surprised to have won."

McIlroy came second at 12-under after a final round of 69, while Woods (72) was among a number of names to tie for 11-under at the tournament's conclusion.

It was Rock's day, however, and always looked like it might be after he made a blistering start that included two birdies in the opening three holes - a pace that Woods initially could not keep with.

The struggles of the third member of the final group, Peter Hanson, saw them all put on the clock at the conclusion of the fifth hole - something that perhaps played into the hands of Rock, a naturally quick player who was showing signs of frustration as he waited for the Swede to resolve his early troubles.

Later in the round Rock looked to be wavering after a sloppy bogey - that could have been worse - at the short and unthreatening 13th, but then bailed himself out of trouble with some precise iron-play. A straightforward birdie was rolled in at the very next, before he gave himself a three-shot lead with two to play after finding the target with another six-footer at the daunting 16th.

After falling behind early on, Woods had kept stride with his playing partner for much of the day but ultimately could not keep his tee shots on the fairway with enough consistency to create regular birdie opportunities. The wind perhaps made choosing a line difficult for the American, but the uncertainty filtered into his iron play as he regularly missed greens and gave himself tricky up-and-downs; or worse could only muster birdie opportunities from 40 or 50 feet.

That was the case throughout the back nine, as Rock could plot his way without fear that the 14-time major champion would make up ground on him.

"I was right there with a chance to win the golf tournament and I didn't do it," Tiger said. "I just felt I was just a touch off, a couple of shots went longer than I expected so it's something I've got to assess.

"I'm pleased with the progress I've made so far, so I just need to keep building and keep getting more consistent."

In the end Rock's quality meant he had a two-shot lead with just the final hole of the tournament to play - but he created some unnecessary late drama by flailing a tee-shot into the hazard on the right of the hole, leaving him against a rock that left him little real option but to take a drop.

A safe, if still somewhat uncertain, lay-up put him within range of the green in three - giving him three more shots to play with in order to win the tournament.

He then pitched to 25-feet and, after Woods had proven unable to match McIlroy's clubhouse mark, he rolled his approach putt to just a few inches - giving him the simplest (and, perhaps most importantly, least nervy) victory putt he could have hoped for.

"It set off okay but it faded a bit, and it was a weak strike too," Rock said of the final tee-shot. "I didn't see where it landed, but I figured it wouldn't be an easy one. But thankfully I put the next one in the fairway and from there I thought I could do it."

McIlroy complained of erratic play on Saturday and perhaps could point to the same problem on Sunday - as he mixed some wonderful shot-making with a couple of unbelievably poor strikes that kept him from ever really building momentum. The Northern Irishman opened with two birdies in his first six holes to keep pace with the group behind but then hit a horrible, ballooning iron at the par-three seventh that never gave him any chance of doing any better than a bogey.

His next ten holes would see just one more birdie as Rock eased away from his grasp, with a final birdie at the 18th - after a precise pitch - scant consolation for another near miss in the Emirate. The defeat will have been extra disappointing for McIlroy considering the two-shot penalty he picked up during the second round, a lapse in concentration - testing the surface in the bunker - that ultimately cost him victory.

Tiger Woods had troubles off the tee to blame for his failure to win © Getty Images

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McIlroy's playing partner Paul Lawrie also looked well positioned with five holes to play to perhaps nip in and steal the title, but a bogey at the 16th after failing to get up and down effectively ended his hopes of victory. The Scot, Open champion in 1999, made another bogey at the 17th and eventually closed with a round of 72 to finish nine-under for the tournament.

Graeme McDowell had a differing experience to his compatriot, starting slowly but bursting into life after a moment of great fortune. The Northern Irishman looked to be destined for a finish in the pack when he came to the par-three 12th, before a hole-in-one sparked him into life. Another birdie - thanks to a chip-in - at the very next followed, before the 2010 US Open champion reeled off three pars in a row before knocking in another birdie putt at the 17th.

That left McDowell needing a birdie at the 18th to give himself a chance of perhaps sneaking into a playoff, an eventually that looked unlikely when his second shot found a fairway bunker. But he got a huge slice of luck as his approach shot cannoned off the grandstand behind the green before rolling down to just five feet from the cup - a birdie chance he would take to post a target of 11-under after a final round of 68.

"The hole-in-one kick-started a nice day," McDowell said afterwards. "The worst lay-up in the history of lay-ups on 18, and then a thinned approach shot that bounced off the stand and back to five feet. So in the end just a regulation birdie really."

Thomas Bjorn then followed McDowell in at the same number, after a matching final round that was completed without a single dropped shot, while Italian Matteo Manassero ended the tournament at 10-under as he closed the event with a round of 69 - eventually joined there by George Coetzee.

Elsewhere, Sergio Garcia ended the tournament just outside the top ten at eight-under - one behind both Thorbjorn Olesen and Francesco Molinari - while Lee Westwood and Charl Schwartzel both had closing rounds of 70 to thank as they finished well at six-under.

World No. 1 Luke Donald, meanwhile, completed a mediocre tournament with a mediocre final round - his 71 seeing him only barely slip inside the top 50 for the four rounds.

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