McIlroy puts on positive spin

RORY McILROY was being told something he already believed: That he will bounce back and bounce back stronger for his 2011 Masters experience.

After a final-round 80, including a back nine of 43 at Augusta National, that saw his four-shot 54-hole lead and hopes of a first major evaporate, many golfers would be inconsolable.

His fellow players quickly rallied round, offering encouragement; the tweets and messages of support from fans poured in, and newly-crowned champion Charl Schwartzel backed him to rebound and win majors.

Rising PGA Tour star Jhonny Vegas, from Venezuela, stopped Rory McIlroy in the Augusta National car park and told the 21-year-old from Holywood he had the game to win majors.

“You can’t believe how good a player he is and he will win multiple majors. This is simply a blip on the radar,” Graeme McDowell tweeted.

And Schwartzel, who yesterday flew with management stablemate McIlroy to the Far East for this week’s Maybank Malaysian Open, predicted it would be just a temporary failing on the road to success for his friend.

“I mean, it’s difficult, what do you say? He’s such a good player,” Schwartzel said.

“He’s going to win a major sometime. Obviously things didn’t go his way today. The way he played the first three rounds you have to think that a win is not that far away.

“Golf is a really funny game. One moment you’re on top of it and the next it bites you. He’s such a phenomenal player. He’ll win one.”

Schwartzel, who completed a European Tour slam of the majors by following McDowell (US Open), Louis Oosthuizen (Open Championship) and Martin Kaymer (US PGA Championship) into the winners’ enclosure, backed McIlroy to react positively to his Masters setback.

“He’s going to be disappointed. Whatever it is, sometimes there’s nothing you can say. He’s going to feel hurt. It’s not easy, what he’s went through now. But he’s a good enough player to come back out and win.”

The heartfelt support was warmly received but McIlroy had already worked much of it out for himself. He knows he can rebound from the pain and land the major championship titles his talents merit.

“You know, it’s going to be hard to take for a few days, but I’ll get over it. I’m fine,” McIlroy said.

“A couple of pretty good friends were in a similar position to me last year in Dustin Johnson and Nick Watney.

“I think it’s a Sunday at a major. What it can do? This is my first experience at it and hopefully the next time I’m in this position I’ll be able to handle it a little better. I didn’t handle it particularly well today but it was a character-building day, put it that way. I’ll come out stronger for it.

“I’ve got to take the positives, and the positives were I led this golf tournament for 63 holes.

“You know, 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.”

The way McIlroy faced the media in his darkest hour on a golf course suggests he has plenty of character already but it will take some more reflection before he pinpoints exactly what went wrong at Augusta.

McIlroy’s four-shot, 54-hole lead disappeared as Schwartzel chipped and ran the ball in from long range at the first hole for birdie and eagled the third hole while he bogeyed the first hole on the last day of the 75th Masters on Sunday.

Then he saw his chances of victory disintegrate over a nightmare five holes on the back nine with that triple-bogey seven at the 10th that will be replayed hundreds of times whenever he gets close to a major and dog him until he eventually gets one.

That was followed by a run of bogey, double bogey, par, par, bogey that sent him on the way to the eight-over-par round and saw his prize money tumble from a potential winner’s cheque drop almost €900,000 to €89,928 for his tie for 15th place.

“If I reflect on it over the next few days, I’ll probably be able to tell you a little bit better (what went wrong),” he said.

“You know, I can’t really put my finger on it. I lost a lot of confidence in my putting around the turn. I didn’t really get anything going and was sort of second-guessing lines and second-guessing my speed, and on these greens you can’t do that.”

As for the 10th, McIlroy let out a bewildered laugh.

“I felt comfortable on that tee shot all week and for some reason I just started it a little left of where I wanted to, hit that tree, and I don’t think anyone’s been over there in those cabins before. Yeah, the seven on 10 just sort of derailed me a little bit and it was hard to get back.”

McIlroy said he still thought he had a chance until another tee shot, on 13, went left into the trees on the parfive. With his arm resting on his driver, McIlroy buried his head into the crook of his elbow and peeked out from under the brim of his cap to see if his nightmare was really happening.

“What was I at that point, five-under par? I’d sort of realised, unless I birdied my way in, I realised I didn’t have a chance. I was trying my hardest, but if I had have birdied 13, tried to birdie 14, birdied 15, birdied my way in, but once I hit that tee shot left on 13, I realised that was it.”