Unheralded Englishman Robert Rock won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship yesterday to deny Tiger Woods the win he was seeking to end a two-year winless drought in full tournaments.

The world’s 117th ranked player fired a closing two-under par 70 for a 13-under par total of 275.

That gave the 34-year-old a one stroke win over Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy who fired a final 69.

Woods, with a par 72, finished tied for third a further stroke back, level with Thomas Bjorn, of Denmark (68), and Graeme McDowell, of Northern Ireland (68).

It was a stunning, against the odds win for the Englishman, a former club pro in the East Midlands, who had admitted to feeling starry-eyed after learning on Saturday that he would be playing with the American in the final grouping.

“I can’t believe I have done this. It’s such an amazing feeling,” he said.

“I surprised myself early on as I was very nervous, but I hit some good shots and then thought to myself – why not? I have been struggling to crack the 100 (world ranking) mark but I reckon I have just done that.”

Rock and Woods shared the lead on 11 under at the start of the day and battled it out over the final 18 holes with Rock edging ahead at the fourth hole and standing firm after that in the line of fire from Woods and late on from McIlroy.

It was just his second tournament win in 228 attempts, following his win in the Italian Open last year but more than that it will be the scalp of the 14-times major winner that will count most for Rock.

The $2.7 million Abu Dhabi event was the fourth leg of the European Tour season and the opening leg of the tour’s Desert Swing that also takes in Doha and Dubai.