Rory ready for a rest

ONE was devastated and looking for time off to mend his shattered confidence and recover his love for the game. The other was simply marking a disappointing Masters performance down to experience and wishing he had another tournament to play next week.

You could be forgiven for thinking that 20-year-old Rory McIlroy was the player chalking down his first missed cut in a major as part of the learning curve with three-time major winner Pádraig Harrington the man likely to be the most disappointed.

Instead it was the young Ulster man who sounded like a candidate for suicide watch after he added a 77 to his opening 74 to miss out on the weekend action for the first time in six major championship appearances.