AUGUSTA, Ga. — All week long, Rory McIlroy was shifting gears from 21-year-old kid having the time of his life with his mates from Northern Ireland to showing an uncanny maturity on the golf course that completely belied his birth certificate.
All week, the buzzwords that best described McIlroy, playing in his third Masters, were “fun” and “relaxed.”
So when McIlroy took a four-shot lead into yesterday’s final round at Augusta National, there were no signs that he might crack under the immense pressure of winning his first major championship.
By day’s end, though, McIlroy authored one of most epic final-round meltdowns in the 75-year history of the tournament, shooting 80 (43 on the back).
“I thought I hung in pretty well the front nine,” McIlroy said. “I was leading the tournament going into the back nine. I just hit a poor tee shot on 10 and I just sort of unraveled from there and [I] couldn’t really get it back.
“I’m very disappointed at the minute, and I’m sure I will be for the next few days, but I’ll get over it. I’ll have plenty more chances. I know that. It’s very disappointing what happened today. Hopefully it’ll build a little bit of character in me, as well.”
A number of veteran players felt McIlroy’s pain.
“It’s hard to sleep on the lead,” Phil Mickelson said. “It’s hard to come out and play aggressively when guys are chasing after you and you’ve got the lead.”
There were early signs of distress as McIlroy, who began the day 12-under par, nervously pulled his 3-foot par putt past the hole and bogeyed the first.
McIlroy’s round thoroughly disintegrated on the 10th hole, where he carded a mess of a triple bogey and lost the lead for good. He went from leading the tournament to a tie for seventh in the span of one hole.
“It’s tough to turn it around when you had a four-shot lead overnight and [fall] behind hitting a few ropey shots,” Lee Westwood said. “I’ve played with Rory a lot and when he gets a bit under pressure he’s got a pull hook in his bag, and he hit it on 10.
“That’s something he’ll learn to cope with experience, but that’s why they go on so much about experience at the Masters, the value of it.”
McIlroy’s nightmare continued with a three-putt bogey on No. 11, missing a 3-footer for par to fall to 7-under, four shots off the lead.
McIlroy then four-putted No. 12 for double bogey and fell completely off the leaderboard at 5-under par.
He had played the first three rounds without a three-putt. Suddenly his four-shot lead to begin the day was a five-shot deficit. He walked off the 12th green 7-over par for the round.
The pain etched on McIlroy’s face was difficult to watch. He’d held at least a part of the lead in each of the first three rounds and he looked so carefree doing so.
“It’s a very difficult position to be in,” runner-up Adam Scott said of McIlroy. “I don’t think there’s a lead big enough around here. At 21, it’s a lot to handle. When his emotions settle down he can take a lot of positives out of how far he got in this event.
“He’s a hell of a player. He just needs to let it get out of his system, reset everything. He is as good as it gets for a 21-year old.”