Rock wins in Abu Dhabi; Tiger ties for 3rd
Golf Betting Lines
01/29/2012 - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robert Rock trumped some of the best players in the world Sunday, including fellow third-round co-leader Tiger Woods, to win the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
Rock shot a two-under 70 on Sunday to finish the championship at 13-under 275.
Rory McIlroy, the No. 3 player in the world, posted a three-under 69 and came in second for the second straight year. The reigning U.S. Open champion lost by a stroke at minus-12.
Woods didn't get anything going on Sunday. He hit only two fairways in the final round, sprayed iron shots all over Abu Dhabi Golf Club and ended up with an even-par 72.
Woods shared third place with Graeme McDowell and Thomas Bjorn, who both had four-under 68s. McDowell played the final seven holes in five-under par thanks to an ace and chip-in birdie, but it wasn't enough. The trio finished at minus-11.
This Sunday belonged to Rock, a 34-year-old Englishman, who was once a club pro before landing on the European Tour.
With a two-shot lead over McIlroy and three clear of Woods on the par-five 18th tee, Rock made things interesting.
He drove into a hazard near water on the right side and decided to take a penalty drop and hit his third from the fairway. Rock played down the fairway safely after the lost stroke.
Woods needed an eagle to get in at 13-under, but drove poorly into the left rough, then came up 60 yards short and left with his second. His third ran slightly through the green, but Rock opened the door ever so slightly.
Rock knocked his fourth 35 feet short of the flagstick. He still had two putts for the title and lagged his par putt inches from the hole. Rock marked and let Woods and Peter Hanson finish the hole before he tapped in for bogey and the victory.
The win was his second on the European Tour. Rock broke through last year at the Italian Open.
MORE TO FOLLOW.
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Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.