Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy vowed to not let his Masters experience taint him after throwing away a four-shot lead in the final round at Augusta.
The Holywood golfer dropped six shots in three holes on the back nine on his way to an eight-over-par 80.
"I was leading going into the back nine and I unravelled on 10, 11 and 12 and couldn't get it back," he said.
"I'll get over it. I'll have plenty more chances - I know that."
McIlroy then logged in to his Twitter account to add: "Well that wasn't the plan! Found it tough going today, but you have to lose before you can win. This day will make me stronger in the end.
"Oh and congratulations Charl Schwartzel!! Great player and even better guy! Very happy for him and his family!"
McIlroy's disastrous round began with a bogey at the first and he followed that by almost leaving his ball in a fairway bunker on the par-five second when his shot thudded into the front lip.
Fortunately the ball bounced out but he found a greenside bunker with his next shot, only to get up and down for par.
Any thoughts that his good fortune would kick-start his round evaporated on the fifth when he dropped another shot to fall back to 10 under par.
McIlroy settled his nerves with a solid par on six and then drained a 20 foot putt on the seventh to return to 11 under par and a lead of one.
However, his Masters bid started to unravel on the 10th when his tee shot ricocheted way left off a tree and nestled between the cabins that separate the main course from the par-three course.
He hit a low hook back onto the fairway but then missed the green with his third shot, hit another tree with his fourth and finally chipped on with his fifth. Two putts later he was back at eight under par after a triple bogey seven.
McIlroy's nerves were further shredded by a three-putt on 11 and, after finding the heart of the green on the par-three 12th, he contrived to take four putts from inside 20 feet to plummet to five under par.
"I lost confidence in my putting around the turn," he conceded. "I was second guessing lines and second guessing my speed and you can't do that round here.
"The positive are that I led the tournament for 63 holes.
"Shooing a bad score on the last round of a golf tournament is not as bad as a lot of things that happen to other people.
"It'll take a bit of time but I will get over it and I'll be stronger for it."
