Rory McIlroy will overcome his traumatic experience at Augusta in due time.

He's just a kid, albeit one with a very special talent, but if you look at golfers like Padraig Harrington and Nickk Faldo, they struggled for many years before making the Majors breakthrough.

Indeed, Faldo was derisively known as 'Foldo' in the British tabloid press before he got it together.

McIlory will learn an enormous amount from the experience, but also, that leading a tournament for three rounds is the worst possible recipe for success.

Only one man in 20 years has done it at Augusts and now it is clear why, the level of pressure is just so great.

A friend who accompanied him around the last 18 holes in Augusta writes;

"Like Bobby Jones says " the golf course is played on a 5 inch field, the one between your ears".......Augusta National and the roars across the course claim another victim on Sunday.....something very special about that little town in GA and golf course....I've played there with some good golfers that wanted to cry when they tallied up their score at 18 after playing it for the first time......and will tell you that it just beats on you after the front nine which usually causes you to make mistakes on the back nine or find a rhythm to win......

"Proud of the way he played for three days and it was also said to watch him collapse as I followed him on Sunday.....I told my buddies to think about what you were doing or considered pressure at 21 years old.....this kid was trying to win the biggest golf tournament in the world and he will be back many more times to finally win it one day...

"..the Patrons were extremely gracious to him giving a standing ovation and just trying to uplift him even after he was out of the race which seemed to console him as he walked up the fairways with his head down, that only can happen at a special place called Augusta National...

Some day soon McIlroy will make that walk with his head high I'm sure.