Published Sunday, 29 January 2012
Rory McIlroy on the last day of the Abu Dhabi championship. (© PA)
Rock, 34, won the Championship, leaving McIlroy paying the price for his two-shot penalty on Friday.
"I really can't believe I have done that today," Rock said on Sky Sports after a nervous bogey six on the last hole had given him a one-stroke victory over McIlroy.
McIlroy's closing birdie for a 69 looked as if it might give him a play-off when Rock's drive down the same hole headed towards the lake.
It stopped short of the water, but in the hazard amongst rocks and plants and, with a two-shot lead, he wisely elected to take a penalty drop.
Short of the green in three, his pitch came up 25 feet short and still left him with work to do, but after holing birdie putts from 10 and six feet at the 14th and 16th his touch did not let him down and two putts completed the greatest day of his career.
McIlroy was runner-up for the second year running, but will remember this one for the incident when he brushed sand away just off the green midway through his second round.
In addition to Woods all the world's top four were present. Number one Luke Donald managed only 48th, while Lee Westwood's 17th place means McIlroy regains second spot off his former stablemate.
Meanwhile Graeme McDowell shared third place with Tiger Woods and Thomas Bjorn after a dramatic finish.
McDowell holed-in-one on the 12th - Sergio Garcia and Jose Manuel Lara did it in the first round - chipped in on the next and then closed with two more birdies.
The Ulsterman thinned his third shot at the 18th and, after hitting the grandstand behind the green, the ball rebounded some 30 feet to within six feet of the flag.
Like McIlroy, though, McDowell was left to rue something earlier in the week. He went in the water and double-bogeyed the 17th on day one after his driver broke.