Rory McIlroy finally found his Masters mojo on Sunday – three days too late as Adam Scott made history as the first Australian to win the coveted green jacket.
The 23-year-old McIlroy hit a closing round 69 to finish on two over par for the tournament as Scott edged out Argentina’s Angel Cabrera in a thrilling play-off.
At least, the first sub 70 round of his 2013 Masters put a smile back on McIlroy’s face after a frustrating week.
He told the Irish Times he was frustrated but philosophical.
McIlroy insisted: “I’m learning each and every year and, hopefully, I’ll come back with a little more experience next year.
“If I would have had that round today on Saturday it would have been nice. It’s all about experience here.
“If you get on the wrong side of greens and wrong side of pins, it can make you look silly at times. Obviously, I went through a bad stretch of holes on Saturday from seven to 11, played them in five over, but apart from that I actually felt like I had a decent tournament.”
Asked what he learnt most, McIlroy replied: “It’s one of these golf courses where, when it’s like this unfortunately like you can shoot 65 in a heart beat, but all of a sudden you go for a few shots and you’re staring double and triple bogey in the face.
“It’s the same thing every year. Don’t short side yourself, don’t take on too much when you know you can’t. That’s the game plan that I came in with this week and it just didn’t pay off.
“It’s just about trying to limit those mistakes. I’m learning each and every year around here, and I’ve still got plenty of years to try and get one of those Green Jackets.”
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