Robert Rock

Will never forget his third round at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open on July 6 when he had the chance to join Oliver Fisher in shooting a 59 on the European Tour.

The eagle attempt at Lahinch’s par five 18th just missed, but his 60 swept him into the lead and although the final day belonged to Jon Rahm a tie for fourth gave Rock, 333rd in the world at the time, one of the three Open Championship spots up for grabs since Rahm and joint runner-up Andy Sullivan were already exempt.

Tied for seventh in The Open at St Andrews in 2010, but even more memorable was the 2012 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. He was tied for the lead with Tiger Woods with a round to go and as well as beating him he held off the challenge of Rory McIlroy to take the title by a single shot. His first Tour win was the 2011 BMW Italian Open, while two years before that he went home with the winner’s cheque from the Irish Open even though he finished second. That was because the player who beat him in a play-off was amateur Shane Lowry, who could not accept any prize money.