{"podcast":{"title":"This Golfing Life","slug":"this-golfing-life-7773016","podcast_index_feed_id":7773016,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/thisgolfinglife","website_url":"http://www.soundergolf.com","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/951e09f4-1d70-11f1-a339-376ffb194972/image/1987af38fa0d78382e3feebd4f7a2e67.jpeg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Sounder Golf","episode_count":21,"summary":"This Golfing Life is a series of conversations about life, golf and the relationship between the two. Join host Dan Davies as he gets to the heart of the game with an eclectic range of guests - some famous, some less so; but all of them hopelessly besotted with the most engaging, infuriating and enjoyable game ever created.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-31T10:18:29.217193+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-golfing-life-7773016"},"episode":{"title":"12. Robert Rock: The Sultan of Swing on style, substance & beating Tiger","slug":"robert-rock-the-sultan-of-swing-on-style-substance-and-beating-tiger","published_at":"2026-06-04T23:05:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-golfing-life-7773016/robert-rock-the-sultan-of-swing-on-style-substance-and-beating-tiger","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-golfing-life-7773016","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR1585095295.mp3","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NSR1585095295.mp3","summary":"In this episode, European Tour veteran and two-time winner Robert Rock reveals how investing in his swing — and gaining an intimate understanding what goes into making it look effortless — helped him beat Tiger Woods in Abu Dhabi in 2012 and achieve a lifelong dream. We apologise for the sound quality on this episode but hope you’ll stick with it to discover how Robert’s fascination with historic players like Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Nick Faldo shaped his approach to technique and competition, even when the spotlight was off. We also break down how an obsession with precision and simplicity helped him craft one of the game's most admired swings — and why even the best struggle with basic putting. And beyond the tournaments and trophies, Robert’s journey uncovers his obsession with swing mechanics and aesthetics, the evolution of golf equipment, and why the game’s true mastery lies in the process, not just the outcome. Robert Rock’s candid stories explore the shifting landscape of professional golf — from equipment innovations to the decline of long irons and traditional course architecture. He shares how the modern game’s power and technology are reshaping how pros approach tournament play, and why this might be diluting some of golf’s timeless artistic challenge.  Chapters 00:00 Introducing this week's guest, Robert Rock 01:22 Robert's early connection with golf 04:16 The uninhibited joy of junior golf 05:41 Europe's greats and early idols 07:01 Evolution of technique and equipment 08:57 The era Robert would liked to have played in 11:56 The competitive edge: What sets pro golfers apart? 13:59 Studying Ben Hogan and Bobby Jones 17:30 The differences between scratch players and tour pros 18:49 Process over outcome 20:36 The Journey to his first tour win 24:30 Me…","meta_description":"In this episode, European Tour veteran and two-time winner Robert Rock reveals how investing in his swing — and gaining an intimate understanding what goe…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3806,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/this-golfing-life-7773016/episodes/robert-rock-the-sultan-of-swing-on-style-substance-and-beating-tiger/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/this-golfing-life-7773016/robert-rock-the-sultan-of-swing-on-style-substance-and-beating-tiger.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}