ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Tiger Woods talked all week about his improved ball control.

But it let him down yesterday when he needed it most in the final round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship as Woods finished joint third behind winner Robert Rock of England and US Open champion Rory McIlroy.

The 117th-ranked Rock shot 70 for an overall 275 to beat McIlroy (69) by a shot. Woods was a further shot back with Thomas Bjorn (68) and Graeme McDowell (68). The 18-year-old Italian Matteo Manassero (69) and George Coetzee (70) of South Africa were another shot back.

“Today I just didn’t give myself enough looks at it,” Woods said. “Most of my putts were lag putts. I didn’t drive the ball in as many fairways as I should have… It was a day I was just a touch off the tee and consequently I couldn’t get the ball close enough.”

The loss is the second straight time Woods has failed to win with at least a share of the lead after 54 holes. He lost the Chevron World Challenge in 2010 after going into the final round with a four-shot lead over McDowell.

The 14-time major winner appears to have recovered from a two-year drought in which he was sidelined by injuries and personal turmoil. But Woods must now face the fact that, at age 36, there are plenty of players — known and unknown — who can potentially beat him.

Woods, though, was looking for the silver lining out of his third place finish. He insisted he has been steadily improving — hitting a high percentage of fairways and greens until yesterday and putting much better.

Coming into yesterday, Woods was tied for the lead with the unheralded Rock and was the clear favourite to win. Rock had only one victory under his belt compared to 83 for Woods worldwide but it was Rock — battling his nerves of playing alongside one of his golfing idols — who held it together down the stretch.

“It’s pretty hard to believe that I managed to win. Very surprised,” Rock said. “I played good, so I guess I had a chance from early on, a couple of birdies made the day feel a little bit easier.”

Woods started strong and it looked like he might pull away from Rock, sinking a 40-footer on number two for a birdie and then chipping to within a foot of the cup for a second birdie on the third. But Rock didn’t blink. He also birdied the first two of three holes to keep pace.

Then Woods began to unravel.

He started spraying his drives into the thick rough and fairway bunkers, resulting in bogeys on number four and number five. When Woods wasn’t missing the fairways, he was scrambling to save par as he did on the 11th when overshooting the green. As he approached his shot in deep rough just off the 11th green, he sighed heavily and let out a stream of obscenities under his breath.

Woods managed to save par on 11 by sinking a 12-footer and Rock just missed a birdie putt. Woods pumped his fist and appeared to be regaining the momentum when he pulled within one shot of Rock on number 13 when the Englishman had one of his three bogeys. But the 34-year-old Rock birdied two of the next three holes to seize control.