Tied for 15th place is probably not the 2011 Masters result Rory McIlroy envisioned for himself after leading the first three rounds of the tournament, and starting the fourth four stokes ahead of the field. But after shooting an 80 (8-over) on Sunday at the Masters, that’s where the 21-year-old finished in one of the most epic Masters meltdowns of all time.
And the meltdown didn’t wait long to start. McIlroy bogeyed his first hole after missing a three-foot par putt. From there, he saved three pars before another bogey on five. However, at the turn, he was just 1-over for the round and still holding onto the lead. It was the back 9 where things really unraveled.
On the 10th hole, he lost the lead for good, posting a triple bogey. He bogeyed the 11th. Then four-putted the 12th for double bogey. And that was the end of McIlroy’s 2011 Masters hopes. He spoke about the meltdown after the tournament:
“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.”
The full 2011 Masters results can be seen here. More information of the Masters payouts are here.