Rory McIlroy pointed to the bright side of his final 54 holes but it’s the first round that’s the cause of his now six-year Major drought.

The Holywood star might have closed with scores of 66, 67 and 69 to tie for fifth on 11-under par, dropping just two shots over those last three rounds.

But he was left to rue that opening 75 and statistics that show that he’s 59 under for the last three rounds of Majors since his last win in 2014 but a whopping 28-over par for the first round.

“Again, I said yesterday, I just got a little careful, a little tentative, a little guidey,” McIlroy said. “I just didn't trust my swing, didn't commit to what I was doing, and again, this course more than any other can make you do that at times. That was really what it was.  

“The first day I actually did okay.  I was even par. Even par through 9 here is not that bad, and then just that second morning I just didn't quite have it.  I guess I need to take the positives, and played the last 54 really well and only made two bogeys in that 54 hole stretch, which is probably the best run of golf I've played here.”

If he did have a wish for next April, it’s that his iron play improves.

“It hasn't been great since coming back from the lockdown,” he said. “It sort of goes right through the bag.  It goes from wedges all the way through to the long irons.”

Shane Lowry was also looking on the bright side despite three putting the last for a 73.

After finishing a career-best tied 25th on four-under in his fifth start, the Offaly man believes he can come back and win that green jacket.

“I'm pretty happy with my week,” he said. “I'm disappointed how I finished. I actually gave myself a lot of chances today, especially the last few holes. I probably should have birdied 15, should have birdied 17, and then I had a great chance on the last, and what a bad three‑putt. That's just silly.  

“I could have had a really nice week there, which is disappointing, but a lot learned, and I'll move on now to Sea Island, and yeah, give it a go again next week.”

Having now made two cuts in five Masters appearances, Lowry knows more about what to expect at the weekend and that can only be good for the future.

“It's hard to believe Christmas is in a couple weeks and we're standing here on the Sunday of Augusta,” he said.  “It'll be weird.  But it'll be nice to come back here in April as it always is”

Asked if April was another chance to learn the ropes, he added: “Oh, no, I'm here to win. Like I'm not just here to learn. I'm here to compete.  When you shoot 74 the first day you've shot yourself in the foot, so you're going out there then to try and make the weekend and you're trying to finish as high up the leaderboard as you can.

“I don't show up to tournaments to finish 10th or fifth or wherever.  I show up to put on my best performance, and I'm hoping that that brings to being in contention and all that, and then when you get there you just want to kick on and try and win the tournament from there.”

Looking forward to returning to Royal St George’s to defend the Open next July, he added: “It'll be nice to go back as defending champion and hopefully put on a good performance and maybe win another one.”

Tiger’s mixed day

Shane Lowry might have outscored Tiger Woods by eight shots on the 12th but he was still massively impressed by the reaction of the five-time Masters champion to his septuple bogey 10.

“Yeah, look, he had a bit of a disaster on that hole, didn't he,”: Lowry said.  “I'm not going to stand here and talk about it like he hit a couple of balls in the water and hit a really tricky bunker shot there. Yeah, look, it happened, and what a finish.  He seemed to hit every shot stone dead then for the rest of the round.”

Nine over for his round after hitting three balls in the water at the 12th, Woods replied with a birdie at the 13th, then birdied the last four holes to card a 76.

“That's part of our sport,” he said. “This sport is awfully lonely sometimes.  You have to fight it.  No one is going to bring you off the mound or call in a sub.  You have to fight through it.  

“That's what makes this game so unique and so difficult mentally.  We've all been there, unfortunately.  Unfortunately I've been there and you just have to turn around and figure out the next shot, and I was able to do that coming home.” 

Ogletree wins low amateur

Georgia Tech’s Andy Ogletree claimed the Silver Cup awarded to the low amateur.

The 2019 US Amateur champion shot rounds of 73, 70, 71 and 72 to finish tied 34th on two-under, five shots better than Vanderbilt’s John Augenstein.

The other amateurs, James Sugrue (77-71), Lukas Michel (76-74), Yuxin Lin (72-73) and Abel Gallegos (79-81) failed to make the cut.

Bernhard beats Bryson

He might have been outdriven by 100 yards at times but Masters veteran Bernhard Langer still outscored bomber Bryson DeChambeau in the final round and on the final scoreboard.

The 1985 and 1993 Masters winner shot rounds of 68 and 73 to become the oldest man to make the cut, surpassing former record holder Tommy Aaron by just over a month at 63 years, 2 months, 18 days.

He then followed a third round 73 with a closing 71, outscoring DeChambeau by two strokes yesterday to finish tied 29th on three-under, one better than the pre-tournament favourite.

The German is already looking forward to returning to Augusta in April and hoping for firm and fast conditions after this week’s slog.

“I like the challenge of it being firm and fast,” he said. “I think it's a harder course when it plays that way.  It may play shorter, but I think it's harder.  We'll see what next spring brings.”

Lapping it all up

Chinese amateur Yuxin Lin (20) missed the cut but spent his final night in the Crow’s Nest studying for his final college exams at the University of Southern California.

Due to the pandemic, each of the six amateurs were invited to stay one night in the high above clubhouse rather than as a group,

Mallow’s James Sugrue was there on Monday night and Lin was delighted to get his chance until his laptop crashed.

“It was great,” Lin told the Augusta Chronicle. “You can feel the tradition there with all of the great players that stayed here before. You can feel it. It's just an amazing vibe.” 

As for the laptop, he said: “I was doing homework and it kind of crashed “It's unfortunate because it's actually finals week coming up.”