The Englishman fought off the challenges of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy with a closing round of 70 to clinch victory by a single shot.

Rock overcame the jitters on the par-five closing hole, where he eventually made the six he needed after being forced to take a penalty drop.

“I can’t believe I’ve done that today – such an amazing feeling,” said the modest Midlander. “I was very happy to be playing with Tiger Woods today, and that’s a special honour in itself.

“I really surprised myself, early on I was very, very nervous, but hit some good shots and started thinking ‘why not’.

“I’ve worked hard on my game but didn’t think this would happen.”

Outplayed

It was a nervy finish for the world number 117, who had outplayed playing partner Woods for much of the final day.

The pair started the round tied for the lead but Woods handed his rival an early lead with back-to-back bogeys at the fourth and fifth after both had picked up shots at the two previous holes.

Rock went three clear with a seven-foot birdie putt on the sixth and Woods had to work hard to keep his deficit to that after losing his ball control in the windier conditions.

By the turn, though, the gap was back to one. Rock was twice in rough on the long eighth and bogeyed, then Woods made a seven-footer of his own for birdie on the ninth.

They turned at 13 under and 12 under respectively, while Scot Paul Lawrie was alone in third two back and McIlroy, having bogeyed the short seventh, three behind with Dane Thomas Bjorn and Italian Francesco Molinari.

Woods gave a shot straight back at the 10th after finding a bunker off the tee and then another by the green.

Robert Rock: Biggest win of his career

There could have been a two-shot swing at the next but Woods holed his par putt from 15 feet following a poor approach before Rock missed his birdie attempt from closer in.

Woods bunkered

McIlroy kept his round going with birdie from 22 feet at the 13th before a good par save at the 14th from 15 feet, while at the same time Rock was bogeying the hole behind to see his lead reduced to just one again.

The leader was in sand again off the tee at 14, only to fire his approach to 15 feet and hole the putt, while Woods went from bunker to bunker once again, relying on his scrambling skills to get up and down and keep the lead to two.

The pair parred the next in regulation before Woods managed to save par again at the next despite another wayward drive, but once more it was Rock turning on the style under pressure as he birdied from six feet following another fine approach.

McIlroy had birdied the closing hole to make Rock’s lead two going down the last, and he needed it after finding the hazard from the tee forcing him to take a penalty drop.

But it proved to be the correct choice, his lay-up allowing him to pitch to around 25 feet, and a perfect lag putt to the side of the cup ensured there would be no further hiccups.

“I just wanted to keep hitting good shots, making good swings and giving myself putts for birdies,” added the new champion. “I was expecting some pressure so I was glad to make some decent swings – until the 18th tee.

“It’s an amazing tournament to win, I’ve not done that well here before either so I’m amazed I’ve been able to do that this week.”

Woods, who found only five fairways and a similar number of greens in regulation, went round in a disappointing level par and had to settle for a share of third place alongside Graeme McDowell and Bjorn.

McDowell came home in 31 strokes, a hole in one at the 12th – the third of the week there – was followed by a birdie at the next while two closing birdies saw him round in 68, to take him to -11 alongside the Dane, who also carded a bogey-free 68.

The biggest loser of the day was Sweden’s Peter Hanson, who returned a round of the week 64 to get into Sunday’s final group, but followed up with a 78 that saw him slip all the way back into a tie for 35th.

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, all times Local, -4 hours for GMT):

Starting at hole 1

0750 Alexander Noren (Swe), Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind)

0800 Oliver Fisher, Richie Ramsay, Richard Green (Aus)

0810 Markus Brier (Aut), Luke Donald, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa)

0820 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Joel Sjoholm (Swe), Bradley Dredge

0830 Marcel Siem (Ger), Anthony Wall, Rhys Davies

0840 Joost Luiten (Ned), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel)

0855 Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Michael Hoey, Thomas Aiken (Rsa)

0905 Andrea Pavan (Ita), Soren Hansen (Den), Stephen Gallacher

0915 Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), David Horsey, Peter Whiteford

0925 Anders Hansen (Den), Gary Boyd, K J Choi (Kor)

0935 Richard S Johnson (Swe), David Drysdale, Ben Curtis (USA)

0945 Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa), Ross Fisher, Padraig Harrington

1000 Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Romain Wattel (Fra)

1010 Lorenzo Gagli (Ita), Simon Dyson, Lee Westwood

1020 Robert Karlsson (Swe), Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Sergio Garcia (Spa)

1030 Johan Edfors (Swe), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Wen-chong Liang (Chn)

1040 David Lynn, Graeme Storm, Mark Foster

1050 Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa), Richard Finch, Gareth Maybin

1105 Graeme McDowell, Matteo Manassero (Ita), Keith Horne (Rsa)

1115 Thomas Bjorn (Den), Jamie Donaldson, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den)

1125 George Coetzee (Rsa), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), James Kingston (Rsa)

1135 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Paul Lawrie, Rory McIlroy

1145 Peter Hanson (Swe), Tiger Woods (USA), Robert Rock

The former world number one carded a third-round 66, finishing off with a fine birdie at the last to stand atop a crowded leaderboard on which at least 20 players will fancy their chances of a Sunday charge.

Looking in determined mood throughout, Woods had six birdies and avoided any mistakes, making it only two bogeys through 54 holes of his first tournament of the season.

Englishman Robert Rock, playing in the group behind, proved his most consistent challenger and made a birdies at the last two holes to match Woods’ 66.

They have a two-stroke lead over the chasing pack which includes Rory McIlroy.

Playing with Woods for the third day running, the US Open champ matched Tiger over the front nine as the pair went out in two-under but McIlroy never had the same consistency off the tee on the back and couldn’t keep pace.

Peter Hanson carded the best round of the day, an eight-under 64, to vault from tied 32nd to tied third.

The Swede birdied three of his first five holes and picked up five more shots along the way to be part of a four-man group at nine-under which features McIlroy, Francesco Molinari and Paul Lawrie.

Halfway leader Thorbjorn Olesen struggled after dropping shots at five and six, but three birdies around the turn helped him home in 71, three shots off the leading duo alongside George Coetzee, James Kingston and Jean-Baptiste Gonnet.

Dane Thomas Bjorn and Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano had showed what was possible on a perfect day for scoring by going to the turn in 30. Both would shoot 65s to end at seven-under and five-under respectively.

Consistent

Woods wasn’t getting carried away by his round despite looking pretty flawless off the tee and in control on the greens.

“I was just kind of consistent today,” he said. “I didn’t do a whole lot wrong, I didn’t do a whole lot right. I was just kind of methodically moving my way around the golf course and six birdies piled up.

“I was just trying to hit the ball in the fairway and then move on from there.”

As for the final round, he said: “I’ve got to go out there, get to it and post a good number.”

Rock, meanwhile, just seemed delighted to have the chance of playing in the final round of a big event with a 14-time major winner.

“I can’t wait. Pretty cool isn’t it. I’m just going to enjoy it,” said Rock, whose win at last year’s Italian Open was his one and only victory so far on the European Tour.