Robert Rock is relishing the opportunity of avenging his 2009 Irish Open play-off defeat, with the Englishman sharing the halfway lead with American Peter Uihlein at Carton House, two shots ahead of his conqueror of four years ago, Shane Lowry.
Rock was involved in one of the most dramatic finishes in Irish Open history at Co Louth Golf Club, but he lost out in a play-off to home favourite Lowry, then a 22 year old amateur.
While it was not to be for the 36 year old Belfry player that day, he has since gone on to greater things, winning the Italian Open in 2011 before a stunning victory at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship after emerging on top from a final day battle with Tiger Woods.
Rock admitted that his duel with Lowry was almost on a par with that lucrative victory in the Middle East, and he cannot wait to sample the atmosphere of the huge Irish crowds once again, this time at the pristine Carton House Golf Club.
“I’ll never forget that day, playing with Shane,” said Rock, who signed for a six under par second round 66 at Carton House for a nine under par total.
“That was really tough. That was almost harder than Abu Dhabi, because I did feel like I had some people on my side in there! They were both comparable, although they were different pressures.
“I started great really today,” he continued. “I’ve been putting a little bit better lately so to start the day with a five‑foot putt for a birdie was nice, and I drove it well for the rest of the round. Overall it was a steady day, no bogeys and a tidy short game to keep it going. I was never really out of play apart from the 18th tee shot when I hit it in the bunker.”
Uihlein, meanwhile, continued his magnificent form carding a four under par 68 to move to the front four weeks after his maiden European Tour victory, a result which was followed by a tied 12th finish at the BMW PGA Championship, a top 25 at the Nordea Masters and a top ten at last week’s BMW International Championship.
“I’ve been playing well the last couple of days and executing really well from the rough,” said the 23 year old. “You’re going to miss some fairways out here with the wind blowing so you have to hope for some good lies and then hole a few good putts and I did that.”
Lowry, who is Carton House’s Touring Professional, added a two under par 70 to his opening round 67 to stay within two shots of the summit on seven under par, alongside Sweden’s Oscar Floren (71), Joost Luiten (70) of The Netherlands, Spaniard José María Olazábal (63) and Ricardo Santos (66) of Portugal.
On a day when the wind caused some difficulty at the Country Kildare venue, the cut fell at level par meaning that the four home Major winners Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy all missed the cut.
Scores:
135 P Uihlein (USA) 67 68, R Rock (Eng) 69 66,
137 S Lowry (Irl) 67 70, R Santos (Por) 71 66, O Floren (Swe) 66 71, J Luiten (Ned) 67 70, J Olazábal (Esp) 68 69,
138 S Henry (Sco) 74 64, R Jacquelin (Fra) 69 69, P Larrazábal (Esp) 69 69,
139 P Whiteford (Sco) 71 68, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 69 70, D Gaunt (Aus) 71 68, T Björn (Den) 68 71, A Hansen (Den) 69 70,
140 J Donaldson (Wal) 69 71, A Cañizares (Esp) 71 69, F Molinari (Ita) 73 67, A Quiros (Esp) 72 68, E Pepperell (Eng) 71 69, A Kaleka (Fra) 72 68, P Casey (Eng) 68 72, E Grillo (Arg) 73 67, J Campillo (Esp) 72 68,
141 O Fisher (Eng) 71 70, P Lawrie (Sco) 71 70, D Willett (Eng) 73 68, J Walters (RSA) 72 69, G Shaw (Nir) 73 68, J Lara (Esp) 71 70, S Dodd (Wal) 71 70, C Paisley (Eng) 69 72, S Kjeldsen (Den) 71 70, F Andersson Hed (Swe) 70 71,
142 A Snobeck (Fra) 71 71, R Finch (Eng) 71 71, S Gallacher (Sco) 72 70, A Dunbar (Nir) 70 72, S Thornton (Irl) 69 73, A Hartø (Den) 70 72, A Dodt (Aus) 68 74, D Mooney (Nir) 74 68, J Gonnet (Fra) 67 75, G Storm (Eng) 69 73, D Howell (Eng) 70 72,
143 L Jensen (Den) 72 71, J Morrison (Eng) 73 70, R Fisher (Eng) 73 70, C Lloyd (Eng) 72 71, P Lawrie (Irl) 72 71, S Little (Eng) 71 72, M Hoey (Nir) 67 76, D Drysdale (Sco) 72 71, M Ilonen (Fin) 70 73, R Sterne (RSA) 73 70, P Sjöland (Swe) 73 70, R Bland (Eng) 71 72, M Kieffer (Ger) 70 73, B Rumford (Aus) 72 71,
144 S Power (Irl) 69 75, M Warren (Sco) 69 75, A Sullivan (Eng) 72 72, E De La Riva (Esp) 73 71, S Benson (Eng) 73 71, R Wattel (Fra) 74 70, C Del Moral (Esp) 72 72, C Macaulay (Sco) 73 71, R Derksen (Ned) 73 71, G Mulroy (RSA) 69 75, G Havret (Fra) 74 70, M Baldwin (Eng) 71 73, H Wen-Yi (Chn) 77 67,
CUT
145 L Gagli (Ita) 72 73, M Lundberg (Swe) 68 77, E Kofstad (Nor) 71 74, T Levet (Fra) 71 74, D Fichardt (RSA) 72 73, A Tadini (Ita) 72 73, J Kruger (RSA) 74 71, G Maybin (Nir) 71 74, J Lagergren (Swe) 71 74, J Sjöholm (Swe) 77 68, S Hansen (Den) 71 74, D Brooks (Eng) 74 71, J Hansen (Den) 75 70, A Levy (Fra) 74 71, J Parry (Eng) 72 73, P Harrington (Irl) 71 74, G McDowell (Nir) 71 74, F Zanotti (Par) 73 72, G Stal (Fra) 72 73, B Åkesson (Swe) 70 75, N Fasth (Swe) 71 74, G Moynihan (am) (Irl) 73 72, K Phelan (am) (Irl) 72 73,
146 S Arnold (Aus) 75 71, R McIlroy (Nir) 74 72, T Fleetwood (Eng) 73 73, R Coles (Eng) 74 72, M Lafeber (Ned) 73 73, C McNamara (Irl) 68 78, P McGinley (Irl) 70 76, B Stone (RSA) 75 71, E Goya (Arg) 69 77,
147 M Murphy (Irl) 74 73, V Dubuisson (Fra) 74 73, S Dyson (Eng) 75 72, S Jamieson (Sco) 76 71, M Lampert (Ger) 72 75, J Edfors (Swe) 74 73, M Delpodio (Ita) 75 72, H Otto (RSA) 77 70, R Green (Aus) 74 73, R Pugh (am) (Wal) 73 74,
148 F Aguilar (Chi) 72 76, P Hedblom (Swe) 73 75, R Gonzalez (Arg) 73 75, L Slattery (Eng) 73 75, S Chowrasia (Ind) 75 73, R Davies (Wal) 73 75, S Khan (Eng) 76 72, J Singh (Ind) 75 73, R Whitson (am) (Nir) 76 72,
149 J Van Zyl (RSA) 74 75, T Lewis (Eng) 74 75, I Garrido (Esp) 71 78, M Nixon (Eng) 75 74, M Foster (Eng) 72 77, S Webster (Eng) 73 76, D Van Der Walt (RSA) 77 72,
150 M Jonzon (Swe) 75 75, M Southgate (Eng) 77 73, D Clarke (Nir) 75 75, M Staunton (Irl) 74 76, M Tullo (Chi) 78 72, M Wiegele (Aut) 78 72, M Campbell (Nzl) 75 75, B McGovern (Irl) 72 78, K Broberg (Swe) 74 76,
151 P Price (Wal) 75 76, G Lockerbie (Eng) 77 74, R McEvoy (Eng) 78 73, S Wakefield (Eng) 75 76, C Cévaër (Fra) 79 72,
152 M Carlsson (Swe) 74 78,
153 D McGrane (Irl) 75 78, B Trainor (Irl) 79 74,
154 J Kelly (Irl) 81 73, K Horne (RSA) 78 76, T McCumber (USA) 77 77,
156 D Higgins (Irl) 77 79,
157 D Ryan (Irl) 79 78,
158 D Gleeson (Irl) 82 76,
163 C Lee (Sco) 78 85,
** P Waring (Eng) 73 RT, C Doak (Sco) 76 WD,
