Robert Rock Is Now a Swing Coach and a Soccer Dad
SURREY, England — Oliver Wilson was working hard on the range Tuesday of the BMW PGA Championship.
After a missed cut in Ireland, Wilson, who turned 43 on Thursday, was disappointed because he believes his game is getting closer to what he produced at the British Masters at the beginning of July, an out-of-the-blue T2 at the Belfry.
It was unexpected because it was the former Ryder Cupper’s first top 10 since winning the Made in HimmerLand event in Denmark last September.
“I wasn’t planning on it,“ Wilson said after the tournament’s conclusion. “I haven’t been playing that well, but the way I played this week is very exciting, this is about the best I’ve hit the ball in, maybe ever. I drove it so good, and most people know where I’ve been with the driver over the years.”
What Wilson didn’t say was that earlier in the week he started working with one of the teaching pros at the Belfry, Robert Rock.
A two-time winner on the DP World Tour, Robert Rock is no longer playing competitively.
Rock, a stalwart on the DP World Tour, has played in 465 events in his 25 years as a professional, but hasn’t played on Tour in 2023, with his last made-cut at the Italian Open at Marco Simone last year.
The T50 last September was worth €11,700.00, not much by today’s standards, but Rock was never a world-beater, with just two career wins: the 2011 BMW Italian Open and the 2012 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
Rock, 46, has stepped back from playing competitively and spends more time with his 15-year-old son, David, a footballer.
At the later stages of his playing career, Rock would spend his weeks on Tour both playing and teaching, working with numerous players including Matt Wallace, Alejandro Cañizares and Thomas Bjørn, and then teeing it up, playing against his students..
“I didn’t realize how much driving you have to do for football,” Rock said of the chauffeuring duties for a 15-year-old footballer. “But it’s a lot, so golf doesn’t really get lucky at the moment, but such is life. My parents did that for me, so it’s the least you can do.”
Rock lives near the Belfry and works with players of different levels at the former Ryder Cup venue. That’s how he got hooked up with Wilson.
Since Rock doesn’t travel as much because he is not playing, he has limited his stable of students to Wilson alone, and it’s a bit of a sporadic schedule when the two get together.
Last week in Dublin, Rock flew over, spent two hours with Wilson and then drove back to the airport and flew back to Birmingham, all in one day.
The trip to Wentworth this week was also a quick in-and-out. Wilson is just glad for the time, even if it’s not on a schedule.
“He has an incredible knowledge of the golf swing, but he’s turned into a very good coach,” Wilson said of Rock. “The knowledge and the coaching is fantastic, so I’d rather have that and not have him all the time than not get the right coaching.”
Rock still dabbles in playing competitively. While he hasn’t picked up a driver in months, he did recently compete in the Farmfoods British Par 3 Championship at the beginning of August.
With a field that included numerous tour pros, Rock won the event and €50,000, his biggest payday since October in 2021 at the Andalucía Masters.
Unsure of his playing future and with no long-term plan, Rock will wait until, as he says, his son’s muscles settle down and he’s finished with school and settled at a football club.
“There might be some more time and opportunities coming my way,” Rock said. “But at the moment, I’m just trying to not commit to anything,”