Player-coach role means that Rock will be Open all hours at Portrush
ROBERT ROCK is no stranger to duelling with Tiger Woods — and the player-coach’s two worlds come full circle at The Open today.
As a player, the biggest win of Rock’s career came after going head-to-head with Woods in the final round of the 2012 Abu Dhabi Championship and, unlike many of his peers, ending up on top.
Today, the star player he coaches, Matt Wallace, was playing in a group with the 15-time Majors champion.
“He’s won against Tiger on the back nine of a tournament, so he knows how to do it,” said Wallace of his swing coach. “But even Rocky’s not played with him at an Open — that’s something different. But he knows so well how to prepare for big tournaments and things have worked well. He’s keeping me on the straight and narrow.”
Rock had not originally anticipated playing at Royal Portrush himself, instead thinking his focus solely would be on coaching Wallace. Instead, he acted as coach to his star student on Monday and Tuesday before switching to his own game yesterday.
That he found himself teeing off just after 3.30pm in a group with American duo Kevin Streelman and Doc Redman is predominantly down to a near-record round at the Irish Open earlier this month.
Rock had the chance to match the first 59 in European Tour history, carded by Oliver Fisher last year at the Portugal Masters, with an eagle putt on the 18th of his third round, but it ended up short.
His eventual fourthplace finish, though, was enough to earn him a place at this week’s main event.
At 350/1, the bookmakers do not expect the 42year-old to upset the established order, although he is relishing the opportunity to have two stabs at the Claret Jug, through his own game and that of Wallace’s.
With Wallace (below), Rock has enjoyed success, helping the Londoner to 23rd in the world, and he said: “It’s nice to be a part of it and it’s a similar feeling to winning tournaments. Plus, those moments don’t come along very often as I’ve only won two tournaments myself in 17 years.”
Rock is a walking sales pitch, with one of the smoothest swings in the game. That, combined with his background going through the coaching ranks and giving lessons at his local driving range, have made him sought-after on tour from his Surrey base. As well as Wallace, he works with, among others, victorious European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn. It is a far cry from “selling Mars bars, chatting to my mates and watching Tiger Woods win Majors” prior to turning professional in 2002.
On the course this week, he will stand out for eschewing a baseball cap and the resultant sponsorship money because, “I don’t look particularly good in a cap”. And, bar his 60 at the Irish Open, his succinct summary of his own game in 2019 is that “I’ve been playing rubbish”.
Rock, though, has the potential to be an even better coach than player. His best Major finish was seventh at the 2010 Open and there is a willingness to take on board philosophies from everywhere. Indeed, his favourite quote comes courtesy of Albert Einstein: “If you can’t explain it simply, you do not understand it well enough.”
Much of his time is spent coaching children, but Rock is increasingly earning a reputation, although splitting his time between his two day jobs can be a difficult juggling act.
“We do quite a lot of work away from tournaments, which is the best type of work, really,” he explained. “It’s difficult when a tournament is going on to make significant changes to swings. But I now arrive on Mondays, instead of late on Tuesday, and Monday and Tuesday is mostly for the guys I’m working with.
“As for my own game, I try to get myself ready before. I’ve managed to make a reasonable start at the coaching.”
A good week for either his game or Wallace’s would be a step in the right direction, but the ultimate ambition has to be the pair battling it out at the top of the leaderboard come Sunday.