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Danny Willett

Danny Willett is ready for a Green Jacket Party at The K Club as he prepares to make his first appearance in Europe as Masters champion at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation from May 19-22.

Along with McIlroy, the Englishman will be the headline act in a field which includes his compatriots Matt Fitzpatrick and Lee Westwood and defending champion Søren Kjeldsen, all of whom performed superbly at Augusta National last week.

Willett, who produced a brilliant bogey-free 67 in the final round at Augusta on Sunday to win his first Major by three strokes from Lee Westwood and Jordan Spieth, will be guaranteed an incredible reception when he steps on to the first tee at The K Club after his life-changing victory in the USA last week.

“The Irish Open is going to be awesome,” he said. “It’s a great event. Last year at County Down was pretty special, especially for me having played in the Walker Cup there in 2007. This year, we are at The K Club and it’s going to be a special week.

“Rory has done a magnificent job with the tournament, and what he is doing for the European Tour and golf in Ireland in general. I think with the field we are going to have there, amazing crowds as always and an iconic venue like The K Club, it’s going to be a brilliant tournament. I am really looking forward to making my first appearance in Europe there.”

It’s no secret that Willett is, justifiably, one of the most confident players in golf. Like McIlroy, when Willett produces his best he plays the game with verve as well as a swagger which suggests he can achieve as much as the likes of McIlroy, Spieth and current World Number One Jason Day.

Off the course, Willett remains confident but he is also grounded by a sense of realism and speaks with refreshing honesty. He does not yet believe he is at the same level as golf’s current ‘big three’, but is well aware that he is quickly becoming part of the conversation at the game’s top table.

“Guys like Rory, Jordan and Jason have achieved a bit more than me at this stage,” said Willett. “I still have a little way to go to be up there with those boys, but it’s a fantastic start and a big move in the right direction to start doing special things in the very biggest tournaments.

“I am looking forward to being part of that illustrious group of Major winners, which still sounds a bit odd to be honest, but I want to keep moving forward with my career and seeing what else I can achieve.

“I have no idea how good I can be. I don’t think you can ever really tell how good someone is going to be or what they are capable of. Before Sunday, people probably didn’t think I was capable of what I achieved.

“I am just going to keep doing what I am doing and ticking all the boxes that I know will improve me both as a person and as a golfer, and hopefully I can get into that position again. It’s a special feeling and one I want to feel a few more times.”

As well as Willett and McIlroy, Ireland’s other recent Major Champions, Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell, will also star at The K Club, alongside former Irish Open champion Shane Lowry, who made his own little piece of history at the Masters last week with a brilliant hole in one on the iconic 16th hole during Sunday’s epic final round.

Anyone wanting to catch the new Masters champion in action can purchase an advance ticket for the event at www.dubaidutyfreeirishopen.com. Tickets are priced at only €30 per day, with a season ticket costing just €70 for the entire four days. 

A portion of all tickets sales this year will go towards the Rory Foundation, which was established by McIlroy in 2013 to help children live better lives by raising funds and offering support to children’s charities around the world.

The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open 2016 is also supported by the Irish Government under the auspices of Fáilte Ireland and Sport Ireland.

Mary McKenna

The 2016 Mary A McKenna MBE Golf Classic in aid of the Dyslexia Association of Ireland (DAI) will be held in Donabate Golf Club, on Friday June 3rd, 2016.

It is a 4 person team event at a cost of €200 per team. (Stableford scoring, with two scores to count.) The team fee covers competition entry fee, and tea/coffee and scones on arrival.

All funds raised will be used to support DAI services, including assessment and tuition for people with dyslexia, and the DAI's busy information service.

Book here - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/mary-a-mckenna-mbe-golf-classic-2016-tickets-22060344083

There will be a fantastic array of prizes for the winning teams, plus longest drive and nearest the pin competitions (Men and Ladies) and a putting competition. Great goodie bags also provided for all participants! 

The Curtis Cup will also be on display for those keen to have their picture taken with one of golf's most iconic trophies.

She would be thrilled to have you join her for this fantastic event at Donabate Golf Club on June 3rd. 

Your participation will ensure DAI can help many children and adults with their dyslexia, and set them on the road to achieving their full potential.

• WHEN — Friday, 3 June 2016 from 09:00 to 16:00 (IST)
• WHERE — Donabate Golf Club - Donabate, Ireland

Club Captain Ivan Fuery; Lady Captain Jacqueline Ireland and club P.R.O Eamonn Davis welcoming PGA Golf Professional Seamus Mc Monagle to Letterkenny Golf Club.

Letterkenny Golf Club’s newly-appointed PGA professional Seamus McMonagle hopes to see Donegal juniors take their place at the forefront of Irish amateur golf.

Players like Seamus and his brother Ciaran, Brian McElhinney and his fellow Northwest clubmate Michael McGeady excelled on the amateur scene in the late 90s and early “noughties”.

Now Seamus is hoping to help coach a new generation of top players from his new base in Letterkenny, where he was formally welcomed this week by Captains’ Ivan Furey and Jacqueline Ireland, lady vice-captain Mary Fowley and club P.R.O. Eamonn Davis.

“I want to start producing good golfers out of Donegal,” he said. “It has not really been happening because there hasn’t been any standard of coaching

“It’s a new chapter for me, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Donegal GAA team captain Michael Murphy, Letterkenny Golf Club lady vice-captain Mary Fowley and Lady Captain Jacqueline Ireland welcoming PGA Golf Professional Seamus Mc Monagle to the club

Seamus will also be available for private lessons and said he plans to work with beginners, seasoned golfers, ladies and gents, as well as the existing members.

And having been associated with other clubs in Donegal over the past five years, he hopes to get to work with Letterkenny’s junior players as soon as he can.

He will continue to work with members of other clubs around the country and states that he hopes that with quality coaching, Donegal can start producing quality golfers for the professional circuit.

Revealing big plans for the town club, he hopes to develop a new indoor teaching bay where those availing of lessons will be taught in state-of-the-art facilities. 

The Barnhill course already includes a practice area but Seamus said that, during the winter months, it’s important to have somewhere for golfers to hone their skills.

Donegal GAA captain, Michael Murphy, who’s also a keen golfer and member of the Barnhill club, was also present to offer his good wishes to Letterkenny Golf Club's new addition.

The Captains, President, committees' and all members wish Seamus every future success at Letterkenny Golf Club.

Brendan McDaid at Valderrama

Former Spanish Open winner Peter Lawrie has reunited with an old friend and mentor for this week's Real Club Valderrama Open de España, Hosted by the Sergio García Foundation — coach Brendan McDaid.

Eight years after his playoff win over Ignacio Garrido at Real Club Golf de Sevilla — the Spaniard has recently given up the game — Lawrie will have McDaid as caddie having reunited with his former coach before Christmas, having ended their 12-year relationship at the start of 2014.

With Lawrie almost repeating the feat the following year at PGA Catalunya when he finished in a share of third place of the Open de España with Thomas Bjorn – both behind Fabrizio Zanotti and winner Thomas Levet.

According to BrendanMcDaidGolf.com, "that win also consolidated a partnership with swing coach Brendan McDaid which saw the former UCD Sports Scholarship qualify for the 2012 US Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco."

Doing so through a crowded and competitive qualifier at Walton Health to earn the right. Although a frequent visitor to Andalucía Lawrie returns to Valderrama for the first time since the Andalucía Masters in 2011 where he finished in 15th placeFor this year’s Open de España Lawrie will join forces with McDaid once again with the role of caddie added to the weekend’s chores for the experienced golf coach. Both men keen to rediscover some tournament form in the south of Spain, following a number of months working together off the course.“Most of our work has been focussed on impact improvement” explained McDaid, “and getting Peter to compress the ball more at point of impact.”“Being on the bag will allow me see the progress through the rounds and help keep building on the good work done through the winter,” concluded McDaid

Having lost his full playing privileges on the European Tour, Lawrie will be relying on invitations this year having missed the cut 17 times last season, including the NH Collection Open de España at La Reserva.

Lawrie will be joined at the San Roque course by Greystones' Paul Dunne. Tee times

Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy at Augusta National on Saturday

Danny Willett stood up after his champion’s press conference at Augusta National, the green of his Callaway polo short contrasting nicely with the “Masters Green” of his new jacket.

“It’s just great to get the win, regardless of who it’s before or who it’s after,” he said, when asked if he was surprised to win a Masters before his former stablemate Rory McIlroy. “I am just privileged to be here.”

For most of his career — starting with the 2007 Walker Cup at Royal County Down — Willett has been looking up to McIlroy. Now it’s McIlroy’s turn to look up at Willett and wonder how he got his hands on the green jacket first.

“It is not about trying to follow in my footsteps,” Willett said.  “I was trying to follow in his.”

Clearly, Willett is surprised he’s beaten a course and distance favourite like McIlroy to the finishing post in a race he is supposedly destined to win.

Given his talent, few players in the history off the game have been more hotly tipped to win at Augusta National than McIlroy, even after the disappointment of 2011, when he was four clear on 12 under par with a round to go and shot an eight over 80 to end up 15th.

“He won’t just win one Masters, he’ll win multiple Masters,” was the initial call from Graeme McDowell. 

Bernhard Langer, Jack Nicklaus, Ian Woosnam and a host of other Masters winners agree, even after 2011. 

So why hasn’t it happened yet?

The Masters Tournament is, despite all the hype, just another tournament and it requires tactics, discipline and certain skills to come out of top. 

How Rory scores at Augusta National Hole Score to par 1 0.37692 2 -0.3462 3 -0.1359 4 0.03861 5 0.11538 6 0.07692 7 0.23076 8 -0.1924 9 -0.1924 10 0.42307 11 0.2307 12 0.1538 13 -0.3847 14 0.03846 15 -0.42308 16 0.07692 17 -0.11539 18 -0.03847

While the world record holder will often romp to victory in the 100 metres final at the Olympic Games, it’s still a race that must be won and like any other athlete, McIlroy must have a battle plan, the discipline to carry it out and the intelligence to make adjustments as conditions change.

Still, arriving at Augusta National with anything less than your A game is likely to end in tears and it speaks volumes about Jordan Spieth that he had the discipline to compete with what Paul McGinley described as “his B minus game” and even lead the Masters by five strokes with nine holes to play.

Like a blind man trying to dance through rush hour traffic, we can now see (with benefit of the 20-20 vision that hindsight affords) that Spieth was an accident waiting to happen.

McIlroy was arguably striking the ball far better than his rival but that he did not compete at the weekend is an indictment of his lack of tactical and mental discipline, as the 2014 Ryder Cup captain suggested.

“I don’t see enough focus from Rory at the moment,” McGinley told Golf Channel on Tuesday. “When you look at Danny and the way he was able to close out. It wasn’t just that, it was his body language, it was how comfortable he was playing that golf course, playing the test. You look at Jordan Spieth, his ability to concentrate even when he had his B minus game all week. And yet he was still there contending and focusing. That’s the big thing that Rory has to learn. “He has to learn how to adapt. And he has to learn how to sit different examinations. And when you have an examination like last week with swirling winds, you have to be able to recover from those mistakes and get up and down to shoot a score. “Look at Tiger Woods in ’06 at Hoylake. I think he only hit one or two drivers the whole way around. That’s the discipline he showed to sit the examination paper that Hoylake presented. And then he would go somewhere else where he would take out the driver and play aggressively. “You have to play aggressively but in the words of Bernhard Langer last week, you have to be aggressive-smart and I think Rory needs to learn different disciplines to sit different examination papers and Augusta was a very tough exam last week.

McGinley is still impressed by Spieth despite the Amen Corner meltdown that cost him the chance to retain the Masters

He said: “To be honest, I think Jordan is the best competitor in the game at the moment. Not many guys could compete with their B minus game like he did last week and contend for a major championship.

“I give him massive credit for that. I know it unravelled for him around Amen Corner and we wont’ go into that too much. But you have to hand it to him with his ability to compete when he is not on his game.

“What we saw last week was the value of having your battery full going into the Masters. Last year when he got a five-shot lead he was able to run away and hide. He was able to control the game and he seemed to be a lot calmer than he was last year. And I think that as he was off his game and wasn’t coming in with a lot of good form, his body language wasn’t great and he seemed to be having talks with his caddie a lot.

"There was an uneasiness with everything that he did. So that is how well he played and you have got to give him credit for that. It’s important now that he comes away and doesn’t overreact to the fact that he didn’t win the Masters because I think he did some brilliant work last week.

"As I say, not many guys in the modern game can contend with their B minus game and nearly win the Masters. Hopefully he is not going to be too damaged by what happened and he sees the big picture. He talks about “we” a lot and his friends and his family. So they need to stand up and show real perspective to Jordan.

"This was about a lot of positives. Imagine how well you are going to do when you do get back on your game again and get thatmental battery full again of good, positive thoughts.”

McIlroy’s putting is often cited as the reason he hasn’t won the Masters. But if can make an eagle and 16 birdies in 72 holes, as he did last week, he could surely have found a way to avoid making as many as 15 bogeys and two double bogeys. 

Spieth’s greatest strength is his putting and yet he changed his set up last week, using  a wider stance and crouching more over the ball rather than standing up straight to combat the buffeting winds.

McIlroy made 11 of his 17 mistakes last week on three holes — the par-three fourth, the 10th and the 11th. Most of those mistakes came with long irons or the driver and were exacerbated by course management errors.

The fourth is a tough par-three but McIlroy did not hit the green in any round, saved par just once and made two bogeys and a double that could have been a four-putt triple had he not holed a five and a half footer.

His troubles at the 10th have been well documented since his tee shot in the final round in 2011 ricocheted off overhanging branches into the cabins and he made a triple bogey seven.

McIlroy was just three over for his first nine attempts to play the hole but he is now 10 over for the hole the call Camellia in his last 22 tries, starting with that triple.

He’s also got issues getting through the 11th, White Dogwood, which he played in five over par last week. 

Amen Corner has been a graveyard for many Masters dreams, including Spieth’s on Sunday. But McIlroy’s problems are more widespread and while he played eight holes on the course under par — in order of ease, the 15th, 13th, second, ninth, eighth, third, 17th and 18th are his good holes — he has historic problems on the other 10 with the 10th, first, seventh and 11th his biggest bugbears.

He says he was too tentative but he also appeared mentally unprepared for the grind the gusting winds presented. Given his remarkable talents, the rest of world golf can only breathe a sigh of relief that so far he hasn’t learned how to dig deep when the going gets tough or tactically dissect a course like a Woods, a Langer or even a Spieth. 

The good news is that at 26, it’s not too late to learn.

Shane Lowry with Eoin Duffy, age 10, from Forrest Little at the Bank of Ireland Irish Open sponsorship launch, Bank of Ireland Offices, Burlington Plaza, Dublin. Picture credit: David Maher / SPORTSFILE

Shane Lowry is convinced can challenge for the Masters — especially if he improves his putting.

Tied second after round one and inside the top-10 heading into the weekend, the Clara ace was gutted to end up tied 39th and 15 shots behind winner Danny Willett.

He was thrilled to ace the 16th on Sunday, but knows he must take his putting to the next level to challenge for a green jacket.

Lowry said: “It’s hard to say, ‘Yeah, I could win the Masters some day’, but I do feel like I could come here and contend. I really do. 

“If you can contend, you can win, so I do feel like I can come here and potentially win this some day — I’m not going to shy away from it. 

"I showed it for quite a while this week. It’s definitely a course that suits me.” 

Shane Lowry with Eoin Duffy, age 10, left, and his brother Dean, age 15, both from  Forrest Little golf club, Swords, Co. Dublin, and Julie Moran, age 13, from Castle Golf Club, Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin. Picture credit: David Maher / SPORTSFILE

Tied for second behind Jordan Spieth after a first round 68, Lowry knows his short game let him down.

He said: “My chipping wasn’t 100 per cent this week, which is a bit disappointing because it’s the best part of my game.”

Laughing, he added: “And I didn’t hole enough putts — other than that it was perfect!

“I drove the ball well, my iron play was good but I just need to sharpen up around the greens and it could have been a better week.

“I think if you look at golf in general, if you putt the lights out, whoever putts the best, wins most weeks.

“You look at Jordan, he even said it himself, his putter kept him in it on Saturday. It’s something my putter hasn’t been doing, it hasn’t been keeping me in rounds at all.

“The annoying thing for me is that I don’t feel I’m putting badly, I just feel like I’m holing nothing. 

“A month ago I felt I was putting badly and wasn’t comfortable. But I feel really comfortable out there now and I just can’t seem to get the ball in the hole.

"It’s a bit disappointing but sure that’s the way it goes. I felt very comfortable this week here, a lot more comfortable than I did last year. 

8 March 2016; Golfer Shane Lowry with Eoin Duffy, age 10, from Forrest Little golf club, Swords, Co. Dublin. Bank of Ireland Irish Open Sponsorship Launch, Bank of Ireland Offices, Burlington Plaza, Dublin. Picture credit: David Maher / SPORTSFILE 

“Augusta National is an intimidating place to come and play, especially in this tournament. But there was no sign of nerves at any stage. I really do feel I belong in places like this.”

Lowry has three weeks off before he returns for the Quail Hollow Championship and The Players before heading home for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and the BMW PGA at Wentworth.

Meanwhile, his sponsors Bank of Ireland have announced a three-year sponsorship deal with the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Hosted by the Rory Foundation.

Lowry and Bank of Ireland have agreed to support the Irish Open Golf Skills Challenge for under-15s, which is run by the European Tour in conjunction with the Confederation of Golf in Ireland. 

Golf clubs can enter this ‘Sponsor for a Day’ competition up to April 22 by visiting https://www.bankofireland.com/sponsor-for-a-day-entry-form/

Danny Willett

Newly crowned Masters champion Danny Willett will keep his promise and play next month’s Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at The K Club.

But while the bad news is that next year’s event has been pulled from the Lough Erne Resort by the European Tour and links gem Portstewart has been considered as a potential host venue.

Parkland venue Lough Erne was sold to American investors in 2014 and with Irish Open host Rory McIlroy more keen on links courses, the decision two year ago to go to the Fermanagh venue has been reversed.

In a statement, European Tour boss Keith Pelley said: “During a recent visit to the Lough Erne Resort, I was delighted to meet with the owners and to learn more about their significant investment plans for the golf course and hotel.  

“It is a beautiful facility with an outstanding championship golf course designed by Sir Nick Faldo. 

“While the 2017 Irish Open will not be staged at Lough Erne, the European Tour looks forward to working with the new ownership consortium, and I am confident that the Lough Erne Resort will host an event with the European Tour in the future. 

“Details of the 2017 venue will be announced in due course, but in the meantime we are solely focussed on ensuring that the 2016 tournament, which will be staged at The K Club in County Kildare in six weeks’ time, is a great success.”

Next month’s Irish Open, scheduled for May 190-22, will feature McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Irish major winners Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell.

Masters winner Willett is also scheduled to play and his manager, Chubby Chandler, confirming in Augusta on Sunday that he will keep that promise and join runner-up Lee Westwood in Co Kildare.

Chandler said: “Everything stays the same. He's even playing the World Cup and that will be the end of his year.

"He’s definitely playing Ireland, the BMW PGA, the TPC, France, maybe Scotland, the Open, the US PGA, the Olympics, Switzerland and the Ryder Cup.”

As for Lough Erne, it’s been an open secret for 18 months that the Fermanagh venue was not considered a viable option, especially with a hefty hosting fee of up to €500,000 payable to the European Tour.

McIlroy was once attached to the resort where he had a home as part of his deal with former owner and family friend Jim Treacy, a Fermanagh native

But Treacy’s dream resort (and his supermarket chain) fell into financial difficulties following the global financial collapse of 2008.

Bank of Scotland Ireland eventually pulled the plug in 2011, appointing administrators to Lough Erne which was sold to Illinois based Vine Avenue Advisors for a reported €10.5m in 2014 

While plans for 2017 and beyond are still being finalised, Portstewart Golf Club is one of the front runners to host in 2017.

Secretary manager Michael Moss said last year ”We’d like to do it.

"The European Tour likes the profile of the inks course for the Irish Open and getting it back to where it should be. 

“So if the Irish Open going to be held on a links in Northern Ireland again, the obvious next choice is Portstewart. We could host the Irish Open tomorrow. The course is ready.”

With links courses also preferred by McIlroy, the way is clear for clubs such as County Louth, Donald Trump’s Doonbeg, Ballyliffin, County Sligo or even The European Club to make bids.

Portmarnock’s men only policy means it can’t host the Irish Open but it looks set to land the 2019 British Amateur championship to coincide with its 125th anniversary.

Royal Portrush will host The Open in 2019 while Donegal links Ballyliffin wants that year’s Irish Open in a cross-border bid that might appeal to both governments.

The Faldo Course at Lough Erne

The Irish Open could be heading to Portstewart after the European Tour today confirmed that “the 2017 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Hosted by the Rory Foundation will not take place at the Lough Erne Resort.”

The European Tour statement went on:

European Tour Chief Executive Keith Pelley said: “During a recent visit to the Lough Erne Resort, I was delighted to meet with the owners and to learn more about their significant investment plans for the golf course and hotel.  It is a beautiful facility with an outstanding championship golf course designed by Sir Nick Faldo. “While the 2017 Irish Open will not be staged at Lough Erne, the European Tour looks forward to working with the new ownership consortium, and I am confident that the Lough Erne Resort will host an event with the European Tour in the future. “Details of the 2017 venue will be announced in due course, but in the meantime we are solely focussed on ensuring that the 2016 tournament, which will be staged at The K Club in County Kildare in six weeks’ time, is a great success.”

It’s been an open secret for 18 months that the Fermanagh venue was not considered a viable option despite the fact that it was announced as the 2017 venue in a joint announcement with Royal County Down by now First Minister and local MP, Arlene Foster in April 2014.

Tournament host Rory McIlroy was once attached to the resort where he had a home as part of his deal with family friend Jim Treacy, a Fermanagh native

Treacy’s dream resort (and his supermarket chain) fell into financial difficulties following the global financial collapse of 2008 and the Bank of Scotland Ireland eventually pulled the plug in 2011, appointing administrators to Lough Erne.

It was sold to Illinois-headquartered Vine Avenue Advisors for a reported €10.5m in 2014 and with McIlroy keen to take the Irish Open to links courses and wth new owners in place, the Irish Open deal was doomed to failure despite the political will to go to Minister Foster’s constituency.

Portstewart's secretary manager confirmed to Irish Golf Desk last October that the club was interested.

"We’d like to do it. Royal Portrush hosted in 2012 — a links course. Royal County Down hosted in 2015 — another links course," Michael Moss said. "The European Tour likes the profile of the inks course for the Irish Open and getting it back to where it should be. 

“So if the Irish Open going to be held on a links in Northern Ireland again, well, the obvious next choice is Portstewart. We could host the Irish Open tomorrow. The course is ready.”

The first at Portstewart — Tubber Patrick — is regarded by many as the finest opening hole in links golf.

With the 2016 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at The K Club just six weeks away, there were no reasons given for the decision not to go to Lough Erne or any official indication of where it is going instead.

First minister Foster was adamant late last year that the event was going ahead in her native Fermanagh, referring any doubts to the European Tour.

But when the European Tour’s Antonia Beggs admitted at The K Club in January that it could not confirm or deny Lough Erne for 2017, alarm bells began ringing.

The resort issued a statement the following day, insisting that the event was still a go.

“The owners and management of Lough Erne Resort have been in frequent contact with the European Tour regarding this event and have received no notification of another venue hosting the 2017 Irish Open,” the statement read. “Our team is very much looking forward to hosting the Irish Open at Lough Erne Resort.

“We are continually working in conjunction with the relevant agencies and with the full support of the First Minister in this regard and we have everything in place to deliver a world-class tournament for this part of Northern Ireland and the island as a whole.”

Tourism NI also reacted to the story on Friday revealing in a statement; “Tourism NI has been in contact with Lough Erne Resort and the European Tour and is aware that the Irish Open strategy is under review, however no decision has been made.”

The decision has been made with Portstewart believed to be best placed to host as Tourism NI has a contract in place.

With links courses preferred by McIlroy, the way is clear for clubs such as County Louth, Trump International Golf Links Doonbeg, Ballyliffin, County Sligo or even The European Club (a McIlroy favourite) to be considered.

Rory McIlroy admits his failure to win the Masters is all in his head and down to mental pressure.

The world No 3 birdied four of the last six holes when all was lost and signed for a 71 to finish tied for 10th, six shots behind Danny Willett on one-over par.

McIlroy suffered another dose of triple trouble heading to Amen Corner with bogeys at the 10th and 11th adding to his horrific record on the first three holes on the back nine.

The Holywood ace, 26, needed a magical final round to challenge for the green jacket he needs to complete the career Grand Slam

But after a rollercoaster front nine that ended at level par, he kissed any hopes of a back nine charge goodbye with two bogeys in the first three holes from the 10th.

Already 26 over for the 10th, 11th and 12th after 29 rounds, he bogeyed the 10th and found water at the 11th to slip nine shots behind the amazing Jordan Spieth, who in turn imploded over the same stretch by following bogeys at the 10th and 11th with a quadruplee bogey seven at the 12th

Known as White Dogwood, the 11th hole cost McIlroy five shots over four rounds as he bogeyed it on Thursday and Friday,

He then made a reckless double bogey there on Saturday when attempting a high risk low-running hook out of the pine needles that ran into the pond.

It was ironic in the end that McIlroy blamed his tentativeness for his failure to win the Masters or, given his “mental” struggles, that there has been no talk of him seekingprofessional help having admitted that the longer the wait goes on, the greater the burden.

“Well, I was in a great position going into the weekend, a shot back in the final group on Saturday and I just didn't play the golf I needed to when it really mattered,” McIlroy said.  

“That's the thing that I take away not just from this week, but from previous Masters.  I've been in position before and I haven't got the job done when I needed to and I don't think that's anything to do with my game, I think that's more me mentally and I'm trying to deal with the pressure of it and the thrill of the achievement if it were to happen.  I think that's the thing that's really holding me back. 

“The more times I can get in position to win this tournament, the more times I'll learn and I'll know what not to do.  And I feel like I learned a lot yesterday reflecting on it and that's something that hopefully I'll [learn from] and do things differently.”

Asked what he learned, he said: “Just how I played, how I felt out there.  I felt very tentative, played very defensively, felt very similar to how I played the last round at Doral, playing with the lead.  You're just trying not to make mistakes instead of attacking and trying to make birdies.  Trying not to make mistakes is not my game, that's not what I do.  And if I were to have yesterday back that's what I would do differently.”

The pressure to win the Masters is growing greater ever year and McIlroy has no problem recognising that fact.

“Yeah, this is the one that I haven't won and this is the one I want to win more than anything else,” he said.  “I won a Claret Jug, I want to win more.  I won a Wanamaker, I won the U.S. Open, but this is the one that I haven't. 

“Once I overcome that mental hurdle that I'm struggling with at the minute, then I know how to play this course, I've played this course very well before, and I can string good rounds together here, but it's just a matter of doing it.”

He refused to blame his putting, adding: “I feel like it's been okay.  I'm not coming away from here that disappointed with my putting, to be honest.  Putting here is more difficult than anywhere else that we play on tour.  

“I hit good putts that didn't go in and I've hit not so good putts and I made a few three‑putts, but that's to be expected out here.  When I look back on it, I don't think that's what's cost me the Tournament this week at all. 

Watch 2016 Masters champion @Danny_Willett's final-round 67 in under 3 minutes. #themastershttps://t.co/xCcFuPOJyG

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 11, 2016

“Trying not to make mistakes, trying to be too careful, that's the stuff that's holding me back.  As I said, that's not the way I play.  And it's almost as if I need to go out here and not respect the golf course as much, to go out there and not really care where I miss it or where I don't miss it, everyone talks about at Augusta you need to miss it here, you need to miss it there, it's all about your misses, but I would rather hit it right on line than miss in the right place.  So, yeah, I just, I was a little too careful out there yesterday, trying to just be a little bit too tentative, I guess.  I don't know how else to describe it.”

McIlroy was five shots adrift of Spieth starting the day after going down 77-73 to the American in their head to head battle in round three.

Watch @JordanSpieth's final round in under three minutes. #themastershttps://t.co/DVVTzUlEmZ

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 11, 2016

He needed a hot start to put pressure on the Texan but bogeyed the first even after a lucky ricochet out of the trees.

After driving in the bunker at the second and settling for par, he had a chance to make a rare eagle two at the 350-yard third when hit an incredible tee shot onto the green.

But hemissed his 16 footer and then hit his tee shot into the bushes at the par-three fourth and dropped another shot.

Another bogey at the fifth looked to have ended his hopes and while he birdied the seventh from three feet, he missed a six footer for eagle at the eighth to find himself six shots behind Spieth.

The 22-year old, who was bidding to become the first man in golf history to win back-to-back Majors in wire-to-wire fashion was just one ahead of Smylie Kaufman starting the day,

But as Kaufman turned in 40, Spieth raced to the turn in four under 32 to extend his lead to five shots over Willett on seven under par.

The American birdied the second and then followed a bogey at the fifth with four birdies in a row from the sixth before he was bunkered right at the 10th and fell back to six under, three ahead of Willett, who had just five hole to play.

Another bogey at the 11th followed by two shots into the water at the 12th, effectively ended Spieth’s Masters.

As he chunked his tee shot and saw it slide back into Rae’s Creek, he took a drop in the fairway and then duffed that into the water again before finding the back bunker in five.

He got up and down for a seven to fall back to one under as Willett birdied the 16th to go five under and never looked back, posting a flawless 67 to set the target at five under.

Spieth birdied the 13th and 15th but his title challenge ended at the 17th, when he bunkered his approach and bogeyed, carding a 73 to share second with Lee Westwood (69), three shots behind on two under.

McIlroy birdied the 13th, 14th, 15th and then followed a three-putt bogey at the 16th with a birdie at the last.

Had he played the 10th, 11th and 12th in level par rather than seven over, he would have beaten Willett by a shot.

Then again, had Spieth not also played the same stretch in seven over par, he could have won by four.

Shane Lowry was heading for a flat finish at Augusta when an amazing ace at the 16th turned a forgettable week into a massive celebration.

The Clara man was five over for the day and 12 over for the Masters when he became the 16th player to make a hole-in-one the 16th in Masters history en route to a 75 that left him down the leaderboard on 10 over par.

Playing in just his second Masters, Lowry matched Pádraig Harrington, who aced the 16th in the final round in 2004.

Watch @shanelowrygolf make the sixteenth hole-in-one at No. 16 in #themasters history. https://t.co/YClo2d7xmW

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 10, 2016

On this occasion, his eight iron from 181 yards caught the slope right of the pin and ran into hole to a massive roar that was repeated 20 minutes later when US Ryder Cup skipper Davis Love made the 17th ace there with a seven iron.

Lowry was so pleased he almost did a jig on the tee as he exchanged high fives with playing partner Patrick Reed, both caddies and even a fan behind the tee.

Wondering afterwards what he had won for his second ace in competition, Lowry joked: “It’s not a car, is it? A piece of crystal? 

“Well, I hit a great shot. In fact, I hit plenty of great shots this week. So there are a lot of positives to take from the week and that is one of them.

“I've been hitting good shots most of the day and hitting my targets also, so it was a fairly easy shot, I felt and I just hit a perfect shot in right at the flag and obviously needed luck to go in the hole. 

“But I felt like I deserved a little bit of luck and so I’m fairly happy and I’ll put that picture up in my house and it will be a nice memento to have.”

Asked if he would be phoning Esker Hills Golf Club to set up a tab in the bar, Lowry beamed; “Ahh, don’t be saying stuff like that. It will cost me a fortune. 

“If I had done a bit better in the tournament, I might have. But obviously it’s nice. 

“Maybe it is just the course paying me back for a little bit of bad fortune I think I have had over the last few days.”

It was some welcome good news for the affable Offaly man, who opened with a 68 to lie just two shots off the lead but gradually slithered down the leaderboard.

After struggling to a 76 in the high winds on Friday, he suffered badly on Saturday with a seven over par 79 leaving him tied for 34th on seven over.

He went out hoping to make some badly needed Ryder Cup and Olympics Games qualifying points.

But things went south early as he drove into trees right at the third and racked up a triple bogey seven as two attempted escapes ricocheted back at him from the pine trees.

He then bogeyed the fourth from the front trap before three-putting the eighth for another bogey after a duffed third.

Out in five over 41, he had a roller coaster finish by following a birdie at the 13th, a bogey at the 14th and the ace at the 16th with a three putt bogey at the 17th and a brilliant birdie at the last.

Reflecting on his up and down week, Lowry said: “I feel like my game wasn’t there and I didn’t hole enough putts. 

“I got a few breaks here and there the last couple of days and I feel like I could have been a little bit closer to the lead, but that’s the way Major golf is and that's the way this course is.  

“Every week you play a Major, especially the Masters is a learning curve and I learned a lot this week and I'm sure I'll take it with me in the future. 

As for the Olympics and Ryder Cup, he said: “Olympics, I’m on the team as it stands, but Ryder Cup is kind of one of the main goals, for sure this year. I need something good to happen soon. 

“I feel like my game's okay, and there's no alarm bells ringing anywhere, so I just need to get on with it and I got three weeks off now to kind of regroup and get back for Wells Fargo and I look forward to going there and hopefully doing something good.  I just need to get on with it.”

Olivia Mehaffey bounced back from eight weeks out with glandular fever to card a joint best-of-the-day 79 and win the Irish Women’s Open Stroke Play Championship by eight strokes at The Island.

The Royal County Down Ladies star had Kevin LeBlanc on the bag as she overcame swirling winds and an orange status weather warning to capture the title and consolidate her place in the world’s Top 10.

She started the day one shot clear of Chloe Williams but extended her lead to five shots through the front nine after the Welsh player made three double bogeys and three bogeys. 

Despite an impressive eagle at the par-four eighth, Williams went out in seven over 44 as Mehaffey dropped three shots but turned in 40 to build up a substantial lead.

Donaghadee’s Jessica Ross slowly crept up the leaderboard and turned in 41 to share second place with Williams. 

Chloe Ryan was six through nine to sit in fourth place on her own but there was no catching the world No 10, who came home in 39 for a 79 and an eight-shot win. 

An 83 by Ryan and and 87 from Williams left them second and third respectively.

Nations Cup 

451  IRELAND A (Maria Dunne, Olivia Mehaffey, Chloe Ryan)

Gross

• 1st 18 76 Samantha Giles (England)
• 2nd 18 72 Fiona Liddell (GER)
• 3rd 18 79 Hannah McCook (SCO) on back 9 from Inci Mehmet (England) & Aedin Murphy

Nett

1st 235 Valerie Clancy (Killarney) 80 70 85

2nd 236 Celina Rosa Sattelkau (GER) 76 78 82

Cathy Smith Trophy for Under 18s

221 Niamh McSherry (Lurgan) 78 72 84  

Champion  223 Olivia Mehaffey (RCDL) 69 75 79

2nd place 231 Chloe Ryan (Castletroy) 77 71 83

3rd place 232 Chloe Williams (Wales) 75 70 87

4th place 233 Jessica Ross (Donaghadee) 75 73 85

•  223 Olivia Mehaffey (Royal Co. Down Ladies) 69 75 79 
• 231 Chloe Ryan (Castletroy) 77 71 83 
• 232 Chloe Williams (Wales) 75 70 87 
• 233 Jessica Ross (Donaghadee) 75 73 85 
• 234 Hannah McCook (Scotland) 77 78 79; Niamh McSherry (Lurgan) 78 72 84 
• 235 Inci Mehmet (England) 77 79 79; Fiona Liddell (Germany) 82 72 81
• 236 Isabella Holpfer (Austria) 79 74 83; Samantha Giles (England) 76 75 85 
• 238 Lianna Bailey (England) 81 75 82; Bethan Popel (England) 78 77 83  
• 239 Celina Rosa Sattelkau (Germany) 77 79 83; Gabrielle MacDonald (Scotland) 80 75 84; Sophie Lamb (England) 77 75 87 
• 240 Maria Dunne (Skerries) 80 80 80,
• 241 Gemma Clews (England) 78 80 83; Valerie Clancy (Killarney) 82 72 87 
• 243 Sinead Sexton (Lahinch) 82 78 83,
• 245 Olivia Winning (England) 84 76 85; Paula Grant (Lisburn) 81 75 89; Annabel Wilson (Lurgan) 80 74 91;
• 246 Hanna Gunther (Germany) 85 80 81,
• 247 Holly Morgan (England) 82 82 83; Rochelle Morris (England) 80 80 87 
• 248 Aedin Murphy (Carlow) 86 83 79; Mary Doyle (The Heath) 86 78 84; Mairead Martin (Killarney)  77 81 90;
• 249 Cloe Frankish (England) 79 80 90 
• 250 Gillian O’Leary (The Island) 81 85 84; Natalie Wagner (Germany) 81 76 93;
• 251 Anna-Maria Diederichs (Germany) 90 79 82; Meadhbh Doyle (Portarlington) 85 81 85;  Marie Bechtold (Germany) 88 78 85; Nina Lang (Germany) 85 79 87;  Rebecca Earl (England) 88 75 88
• 252 Katrina Gillum (England) 84 85 83; Shannon Burke (Ballinrobe) 85 83 84; Rachel Thompson (Cork) 90 78 84; Ava Bergner (Germany) 84 80 86; Fenja Rengstorf (Germany) 86 78 88 ,
• 255 Nora Wrenger (Germany) 92 80 83 
• 258 Emily Toy (England) 88 79 91; Sarina Schmidt (Germany)  85 81 92;
• 259 Molly Dowling (Ireland) 84 82 93,
• 260 Monika Isabella Hartl (Germany) 88 85 87; Shannon Brown (The Heath) 93 80 87; Angharad Evans (Wales) 88 80 92;
• 262 Gemma McCarthy (Clonmel) 82 83 97; 
• 264 Eva Lucia Linder (Germany) 88 84 92;
• 268 Widya Van Velp (Netherlands) 85 82 101 

Nations Cup Ireland Team A 451 

• Olivia Mehaffey 69 75 79
• Chloe Ryan 77 71 {83}
• Maria Dunne {80} {80} 80

England 470

• Gemma Clews {78} {80} 83
• Sophie Lamb 77 75 {87}
• Inci Mehmet 77 79 79

Ireland B 472

• Jessica Ross 75 73 85 
• Paula Grant 81 75 {89}
• Sinead Sexton {82} {78} 83

Scotland  473

• Hannah McCook 77 78 79
• Gabrielle McDonald 80 75 84

Germany B  487

• Sarina Schmidt 85 81 {92}
• Anna Maria Diederichs {90} 79 82 
• Celina Sattelkau 77 79 83

Germany A  493

• Nina Lang {85} 79 87
• Natalie Wagner 81 76 {93}
• Ava Bergner 84 {82} 86

Grange Vice Captain John J Nolan with winners Ryan Gribben and Colm Campbell Jnr

Campbell and Gribben win Dublin Scratch Foursomes

Warrenpoint's Colm Campbell and Ryan Gribben won the Dublin Scratch Foursomes by two strokes from Nils Conway and David Carroll at Grange.

Dublin Scratch Foursomes, Grange GC (Par 71)

• 1st - Colm Campbell Jnr & Ryan Gribben 146
• 2nd - Nils Conway & David Carroll 148
• 3rd - Peter Kirby & Eoin O'Brien 150
• Nett - Aiden Claffey & Christopher Cosgrave 143

First round

• Gross - Karl Murray & Marc Nolan 73
• Nett - Cian O'Donnell & David Foy 75

Second round

• Gross - Robert Moran & Alex Gleeson 70
• Nett - Zach Glynn & Eoin Mithen 70

David Lowry with his cousin Shane and caddie Dermot Byrne at The Open last year.

As Shane Lowry celebrated a hole-in-one on the par 3 16th hole at Augusta in the final round of the Masters, his cousin David Lowry was celebrating a win in the latest Hilary Golf Society at a very windy Portmarnock on Sunday.

Lowry, playing off a handicap of one out of Corballis, started with double bogey but bounced back brilliantly with five birdies on the way to a winning score of nett 75, all in winds of 40mph.

Second two shots back was Corrstown’s Alan Doherty (2) with 77, while The Royal Dublin’s Paddy Walshe (6) was third with 80. The Island’s Fergal Kennedy (1) won the gross with 79.

The Hilary season finishes next Friday at Royal Dublin.

Rory McIlroy’s greatest asset (if you’re a golf writer) is that he nearly always says what’s on his mind. In this case, he admitted what we all thought — Jordan Spieth annoys him with his putting prowess, even if he also finds it impressive.

In the first head to head that really mattered, Spieth crushed him utterly but then made the scoreline look respectable in the end with a finish that made him “want to break something.”

“So it was kind of just a blah round at that,” Spieth said. “But again, it’s always nice walking 18 holes with him.”

Ouch.

Mcilroy was made to squirm on the end of a pin all day as he failed to make a birdie in a major for the first time since 2010, shooting a 77 that looked like and 87 to a 73 for Spieth that should have been a 70 and looked like a 65.

“I turned around on, after 15, I said, how the hell is he 2‑under par today? McIlroy confessed.  “But it's his most impressive asset, it's his most impressive ‑‑ and as much as it could be annoying to his competitors, it's very, very impressive. 

“I think that the guys that are out there that are playing that golf course today, we're the ones that appreciate that the most.  And as much as it does dishearten you seeing those putts lip in, you got to take your hat off to him, because he is such a grinder and such a battler and he always sticks in there. 

Heading into the final round, @JordanSpieth has an eye on history. #themastershttps://t.co/ee61GbPOuC

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 10, 2016

“It's a tough finish, but he'll come out here and speak to you guys and be positive and still be in the lead.  And he's sitting on top of the leaderboard where he has been for basically the last three years here, so he's going out there tomorrow and it's his to lose.  There's a few guys that have a chance and I feel like if I can get off to a good start, you never know.”

Having more physical talent than your opponent and still getting whacked made the contest look like one of those Floyd Mayweather contests that ends with the stronger boxer failing to land so much as a glove on the Money, even on a bad day.

Whether he is having a good day or a bad one, Spieth’s ability to get the ball in the hole is astounding, even if he does look like he is dodging traffic on roller-skates with a tray full of cokes in one hand while carrying a small child under his arm.

The postmortems in the media are not kind to McIlroy, whose Masters task (bar a miraculous comeback today) has now become even bigger mentally.

Writing in the August Chronicle, Scott Michaux pointed out a few numbers that are telling:

“Saturday marked the 15th time in their careers that Spieth and McIlroy were paired together in a tournament, but it was the first time they’d teed off together on a weekend."After a couple of significant showdowns between Spieth and Day last year in majors, McIlroy had to be salivating at the chance to prove his technical superiority against his presumed rival. In their 14 previous head-to-head match-ups, the Northern Irishman owned an 8-4-2 record while shooting a cumulative 35-under par to Spieth’s 7-under.“Augusta National isn’t Abu Dhabi or Doral or the Valero Texas Open, though. When they played the first two rounds together at the 2014 Masters, Spieth bruised McIlroy, 70-77, in the second round after they matched 71s in the opener.This was shaping up the same way as McIlroy kept bleeding strokes until he was eight shots behind through 16 holes.”

Spieth’s finish made the final result look more respectable but this is one that will linger with McIlroy for a while longer.

The fact that he claimed that ’today was my bad day”, sounds like a many trying to convince himself that what happened was more accidental that circumstantial.
That he’s hoping Spieth feels that pressure today is also interesting in that his said that before adding that the Texan might have an advantage over everyone bar Bernhard Langer,
 
“I hope so.  Yeah, he's been in control of this golf tournament from the first day.  But, I mean, pressure's ‑‑ I haven't got a Green Jacket, he has.  So there's added pressure that comes with that, too. 

“So, we'll see what happens tomorrow.  But I'm just, as I said, I'm feeling a little better standing here five behind than I was on the 17th tee.  So I have to take some heart from that and regroup and come back and be positive tomorrow.”

McIlroy’s mental strength comes and goes depending on how the wind is blowing and looking from the outside, one wonders what he means when he said he was “a little tentative out there” and yet he plays a suicide shot at the 11th by attempting that low running hook.

His caddie looked on passively as he shimmied out over the window ledge wearing nothing but his socks and — surprise— fell 25 storeys to the pavement as his RM5 monogrammed ball turned left early and ran into the pond. That Spieth also made a double bogey made it even more painful.

Watch leader @JordanSpieth's third round in under three minutes. #themastershttps://t.co/yYtuWO4Nx3

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 10, 2016

“ I was trying to make pars, because pars are good, obviously pars are good,” McIlroy said, after making his 14th double or worse at Augusta National. 

“But at the same time, you still need to try and play your natural game and my natural game is to be quite aggressive and to go at pins.
    
“But it's hard to do that in conditions like today.  So that's why it's going to be a little more benign tomorrow and I think you'll see guys going at pins a little bit more and especially everyone knows where the pins are going to be on the back nine on Sunday here, so we all know what they are and feel like you can get if going and get some momentum on the front nine and who knows what can happen on the back.”

Sunday is now a free-for-all and McIlroy needs to land a few haymakers to change the perception some of the world’s media now have of him as damaged goods when it comes to Spieth.
Writing in USA Today, Luke Kerr-Dineen feels Spieth now has an advantage over McIlroy in that he has refused to rise to the bait and go toe to toe verbally in the rivalry stakes.

On their rivalry, he writes:

Jordan Spieth doesn’t engage whenever he’s asked about it in return. “I’d rather be playing with someone less threatening to be honest,” was his latest line when asked about his Saturday pairing with McIlroy. This all has to do with where each player gets their motivation. Spieth’s is clearly more internal: He wants to do his thing in his way for his own reasons. Talk of a rivalry, if it has any effect at all, isn’t useful to him so he avoids it.Rory is the opposite. He seems to draw his motivation from external factors. He’s an alpha dog, and when a guy like Spieth ascends onto his pedestal, it doesn’t sit well. Except recently, it seems like that mindset is getting him into trouble.

The piece was headlined, “Did playing with Jordan Spieth psych-out Rory McIlroy?

The Bleacher Report’s Greg Couch wrote a story headlined, “Jordan Spieth's Rout of Rory McIlroy in Showdown Has Impact Beyond 2016 Masters.”

Sure, Rory McIlroy lost to Augusta National on Saturday, but more so he was beaten down by Jordan Spieth. It was a knockout, a no-hitter and a Hail Mary all in one, even though there were no punches, pitches or passes.Spieth and McIlroy are now golf's great rivalry, having officially bypassed and shut down the Tiger Woods-Phil Mickelson thing. But it takes a head-to-head matchup to really know about the shape of a rivalry. And what we saw Saturday was exactly how one-sided this thing really is.Spieth was not great, but for most of the day, the ball kept going in anyway. McIlroy wasn't great either, and the ball went all over the place. Spieth is still in the lead, one stroke ahead of unknown Smylie Kaufman, who sounds less like a champion golfer than an emoji…“Spieth was frustrated throughout the day but relentless mentally on his putts. He was finding a way to score well. Meanwhile, McIlroy kept seeing that while Spieth kept watching McIlroy's positive body language slip away. When one star sees another one moping, it's over.”

Rory McIlroy wishes Jordan Spieth the best of luck on Sunday

Faith is the last thing you lose but Rory McIlroy is clinging grimly to the lifeline thrown to him by Jordan Spieth and hoping he can produce the final round charge he needs to win the Masters.

The County Down man suffered yet another Augusta National disappointment when he failed to make even one birdie for the first time since last year’s Irish Open and capitulated in his head-to-head with Spieth, carding a five over 77 to his rival’s 73.

The Texan may not be inside the Holywood star’s head but it certainly looks that way having surged eight shots clear of him with two holes to play.

That he failed to nail McIlroy’s coffin lid firmly closed, bogeying the 17th and three putting the last for a double bogey, both after sliced tee shots into the trees, had nothing to do with any pressure McIlroy was applying. 

Spieth is not thinking so much that he gave McIlroy a lifeline but that he opened the door for nine other players such as 24-year old Smylie Kaufman, who is one behind on two under after a 69, or the time time winner Bernhard Langer or Hideki Matsuyama, who are only two back.

Spieth will also be looking anxiously over his shoulder for power merchants such as Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Danny Willett, who are just three adrift on level par with lee Westwood, Soren Kjeldsen and Brandt Snedeker just four back.

Hideki Matsuyama is two strokes off the lead. Watch his third round in under three minutes. #themastershttps://t.co/8ZVPeKKOGT

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 10, 2016

That Mcilroy missed a nine footer that would have left him in that latter group and only four behind — the same margin that Charl Schwartzel trailed him by on that fateful Sunday in 2011 — said it all about his putting.

The difference between 2011 and today is that Schwartzel was tied for second and McIlroy is joint 11th. Even Jack Nicklaus was “only” four behind and tied for ninth in 1986.

Be that as it may, McIlroy still felt like he’d won the lottery, despite another forgettable Saturday during which he hit just seven fairways and had some 34 putts on greens that were lightning fast with devilish pin positions.

“I couldn’t get anything going really,” McIlroy said with great understatement. “It felt more like a US Open than a Masters today. I am disappointed. I felt like I righted the ship a little on the back nine but couldn’t take the few opportunities I gave myself. 

“If I am to take heart from anything then it’s the fact Jordan has just let a lot of people in after his finish. But I need to get off to a fast start tomorrow. 

“The forecast is for better conditions tomorrow and we know stranger things have happened but I need to play a lot better than I played today.”

The truth is that if the Holywood star wanted to show Spieth who’s boss when he went into the third round just a shot behind the defending champion, he suffered a moral defeat.

With capricious winds and hard and fast conditions once again the test, McIlroy’s A game evaporated on the sweet Georgia air and he needed a large dollop of help from the Texan to keep his title hopes barely on life support. Even then he  couldn’t take full advantage, missing birdie putts on the last two green.

As Spieth bogeyed the 17th and double bogeyed the 18th for a one over 73, McIlroy was erratic in every department of his game and missed a nine footer for birdie on the last that would have cut the gap to four.

Watch @SmylieKaufman10's 3-under-par 69 in under 3 minutes. #themastershttps://t.co/FP7C5zZIbn

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 9, 2016

Instead he missed and a five over 77 leaves him five strokes behind 22-year old Spieth in a share of 11th.

The young Texan is on track to become the first man to retain the green jacket since Tiger Woods in 2004 and also to become  youngest man to successful defend a major since Gene Sarazen 90 years ago.

Rory McIlroy missed his birdie putt at the last

“It’s difficult to play with the lead on this course because you are on the defensive the whole time and there you can’t take many flags on and leaving yourself lag putts the whole time,” McIlroy explained. 

“But hopefully the conditions are better tomorrow and we can make a few birdies and see what happens.”

Ever the optimist, McIlroy talked the talk after his round and while he is well capable of shooting a 65, it remains to be seen if five under would be enough to win and complete the career Grand Slam.

“I think it’s winnable from here,” he said, warming to the theme. “If Jordan hadn’t had that finish he had, then I would probably say no. But he finished that way and the guys on two and three over like myself feel like we have a chance now. 

“I just have to make sure that I get off to a fast start and put some red numbers on the board and make a bit of noise to put a bit of pressure on the guys playing behind me.

“I need to be more aggressive. I played very tentatively today right from the get-go.”

Spieth was sick to the stomach after his finish but he vowed to banish all negative thoughts before he goes out with 24-year old Kaufman in the final group.

The kid fromAlabama shot a 69 to move into second place on two under par, one ahead of the evergreen 58-year old Langer, who rolled back the years with a 70 to share third with Japan’s Matsuyama on one under par.

Watch Bernhard Langer's 2-under-par 70 in under 3 minutes. #themastershttps://t.co/AEwyTDL3DY

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 9, 2016

McIlroy went out just a shot behind Spieth with momentum on his side but ended up failing to make a birdie in a  round of golf for the first time since his opening 80 in the Irish Open at Royal County Down 10 months ago.

It wasn’t so much his putting that let him down this time as his driving and he failed to birdie any of the par-fives, driving into fairway bunkers at the second and eighth, into trees at the 13th and behind trees at the 15th.

With that lack of control, he soon fell well off the pace as Spieth played his usual, grinding game to go the turn in one under to his two over and found himself four behind.

Spieth had birdied the second and parred the third to stretch his lead to three, and he got more help from McIlroy at the seventh where he bogeyed off a bunkered second and Holywood star repaid the favour by three putting.

McIlroy then drove into a deep fairway bunker at the eighth and could only make par to Spieth’s pitch and putt four. Four behind.

The first three holes on the back nine have been kind to Spieth and unkind to Mcilroy in their respective careers.

Watch @JDayGolf sink a 69-foot birdie putt on No. 14 to move into a tie for third. #themasters https://t.co/QWAjYcHpqf

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 9, 2016

Watch @JDayGolf sink a 69-foot birdie putt on No. 14 to move into a tie for third. #themasters https://t.co/QWAjYcHpqf

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 9, 2016

And so it proved last night.

McIlroy hooked into the trees at the 10th and made bogey. But he then made a major tactical error at the 11th.

After hooking hit tee shot into the pin needles, he tried to reach the green with an ambitious, low running hook and ended up in the pond.

Many will wonder why his caddie JP Fitzgerald didn’t step him and urge him play short of the green and try for a chip and putt birdie.

But he ended up making a double bogey six — his third double or worse at that hole since 2012 — but Spieth missed the green and then three putted to match him, leaving the gap at five.

While Spieth still had the lead he was just one ahead of Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama on three under par.

Mcilroy needed something good to happened but while ehe hit a great tee shot to 10 feet at the 12th, Spieth holed a 17 footer before him and he failed match it.

Now six behind, McIlroy parred the next six holes, driving into trouble at the 13th and 15th when he really needed birdies.

Spieth turned the screw, holing a seven footer for birdie at the 14th and a 10 footer at the 15th to go eight clear of the Ulsterman.

But he drove into the woods and bogeyed the 17th, then did the same again at the last, three putting for double bogey six to find himself just one ahead of Kaufman and one two clear of Langer and Matsuyama.

“It's very difficult,” Spieth said when asked how he could lift his spirits last night and see the bigger picture.  

“It's going to be very difficult.  As I look at the leaderboard now, if I can just make three pars to finish ‑‑ I played the last three holes, the last two days, 5‑over par.  There was no challenge in those holes really. 

“You know, that's what's tough for me is those three holes, you should be able to hit the three greens in regulation, and if you play them 1‑over, you play them 1‑over, but they are not the hard holes out here.  That's what's tough. 

“If I'm at 5‑, 6‑under, even just saying that right now, I can't think that way.  That certainly brings anyone who is over par almost out of the tournament.  And now with very little wind tomorrow, someone gets on a run and shoots 6‑, 7‑under, you know, I know I have to shoot a significant under par round tomorrow in order to win this tournament, when I could have played a different style of golf like I did on Sunday last year.”

Watch @JordanSpieth birdie No. 2 to extend his lead early in the third round of #themasters.https://t.co/D2Gy3n5ZHX

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 9, 2016

Asked how he felt compared to last year, he said: I’ve certainly felt better last year on Saturday night than I do right now.  I had a four‑shot lead and everything was going right.  Just came off a great up‑and‑down on 18.  Yeah, I felt much better ‑‑ I felt much better about my position last year than I do right this second, just because of what happened in the last 40 minutes. 

“But at the same time, I feel that if I can get to the range, I straighten the ball out tomorrow, I get back to the same routine I was just in, I certainly think that down the stretch, I'm better prepared now than I was at this point last year. 

“It's hard for me to say that because we just answered every statement made on the golf course last year on Sunday.  So I can't rely on the putter the way I did today.  I've got to strike the ball better.  That's what leaves me a little uneasy compared to last year. 

"I was at a four‑shot lead and we were, what, 16‑under.  I've got to, and I relied on my putter on Sunday last year and it came through.  Can't do that every single round, so I've got to put myself in better positions tomorrow.”

As for McIlroy’s comeback is concerned, he can look to the history books for a modicum of solace.

The last man to win the Masters from five behind was Art Wall in 1959. Nick Faldo was six back in 1996 but he was in last group. McIlroy goes out in the sixth last match with Daniel Berger, 50 minutes before Spieth and Kaufman.

Shane Lowry

Shane Lowry insisted he will conquer Augusta eventually after his Masters dream took a battering in a hail of third round bogeys.

With a blustery wind making for terrifying conditions, the Clara man bogeyed five of his first seven holes, eventually carding a seven over 79 to crash out of contention and back into the pack on seven over par

Lowry said: “Days like today are tough and major golf is tough but that’s the way it is supposed to be and I know for a fact that if I keep positive that some day this course will suit me. I really like this place and feel I could do well here in the future.”

Mental strength kept the pride of Clara in the tournament on Friday when he chiselled out a 76 to go into the third round on level par, tied for eighth and just four off the lead.

But a nervy start wrecked the 29-year old’s hopes of remaining in contention and challenging for a first Major title.

He bogeyed the first, second and third  and then came to the 240-yard, par-three fourth and hooked his tee shot into the first row of the grandstand, making another bogey.

He steadied the ship with a brace of pars but then bunkered his second at the tight seventh and dropped another shot.

There was no birdie at the par-five eighth either and while he parred the ninth and 10th, his first bit of good luck came at the toughest hole on the course.

Force to miss the right, he fluffed his chip to the fringe but then chipped in from 36 feet for an unlikely par.

After a bogey at the short 12th in round one and a double bogey on Friday, Lowry wasn’t looking forward to taking on the hole the call Golden Bell.

And so it proved as he came up short in the bunker and missed a 12 footer for par to slip to six over.

While he birdied the par-five 13th, Lowry bogeyed the 16th and 18th to end the day back in the bottom half of the field.

He said: “It was just tough out there and I was behind the black ball from the word go. One birdie on a day like today, a few poor decisions and missing on the wrong side — you just can’t play this golf course like that. 

“It’s back to the drawing board for tomorrow. I was fighting hard for a while and five over playing 12 thinking if I could get it in the house at three or four over, I’d have half a sniff going onto tomorrow. 

“But I hit a great shot that came up three yards short in the bunker and that was dead. I will go out tomorrow and try and make a few better decisions. You definitely learn from days like today."

James Sugrue

Mallow's James Sugrue added a 69 to his opening 66 to win the Muskerry Senior Scratch Cup by two strokes.

The Cork starlet finished on 135 with Cork's Gary O'Flaherty taking second on 137 (70-67) on countback from Newcastle West's Andrew McCormack (68-69).

Muskerry Senior Scratch Cup 1 Sugrue, James Mallow 66 69 135 2 O'Flaherty, Gary Cork 70 67 137 3 McCormack, Andrew Newcastle West 68 69 137 4 Riordan, Conor Muskerry 70 68 138 5 Reddan Jnr, David Nenagh 69 69 138 6 Thomas, Alan Dungarvan 71 68 139 7 Hickey, John Cork 70 69 139 8 Murray, Pat Limerick 69 70 139 9 Waldron, John Muskerry 71 69 140 10 Twomey, Ronan Muskerry 69 71 140 11 Corcoran, John Muskerry 68 72 140 12 O Brien, john Castlemartyr 67 73 140 13 O'Callaghan, Eoin Muskerry 71 70 141 14 Griffin, Eanna Waterford 72 71 143 15 O'Keeffe, Peter Douglas 71 72 143 16 Lane, David Muskerry 71 72 143 17 McCarthy, Dave Bandon 71 72 143 18 Hallissey, Daniel Muskerry 76 69 145 19 O'CONNOR, DARRAGH Fota Island 74 71 145 20 Gorey, Niall Palmerstown Stud 72 73 145 21 Twomey, Brian 963 Muskerry 72 73 145 22 Crowley, Keith Fota Island 71 74 145 23 Forde, Mark Cork 70 75 145 24 Shanahan, Mark Castlemartyr 75 73 148 25 Hartnett, Daniel Muskerry 73 75 148 26 Murray, James Lee Valley 71 77 148 27 McCarthy, Brian Default 75 74 149 28 Birmingham, Keith Castletroy 74 75 149 29 Collins, Kevin Fermoy 73 76 149 30 Healy, Thomas Muskerry 71 78 149 31 O'Mahony, John Muskerry 76 74 150 32 HEALY, MARK Kinsale 75 75 150 33 McSweeney, Adam Douglas 77 74 151 34 O'Connor, James Muskerry 77 76 153 35 Riordan, Alan Muskerry 76 79 155 36 Naughton, Mark Muskerry 81 75 156 37 O'Leary, OwenMicha Muskerry 80 78 158 38 Hourihan, Darren Douglas 78 81 159 39 Leonard, Clement Mitchelstown 77 83 160 40 Manley, Ken Muskerry 83 78 161 41 Crowley, Colm Woodbrook 77 77 42 Healy, Cian Ballyneety 78 78 - Barry, Sean Fota Island NR - - Bohane, Ian Lee Valley 74 NR - - Bornemann, Karl Douglas 73 NR - - BRODERICK, TIMOTHY Kinsale 78 NR - - Buckley, Finbarr Muskerry 76 NR - - Burns, Derek Lee Valley 78 NR - - Cashman, Alan Lee Valley 77 NR - - Egan, Barry Lee Valley 77 NR - - Foley, Craig Cork 76 NR - - HALPIN JNR, Lewy Shannon 74 NR - - Harte, Benjamin Muskerry 75 NR - - Higgins, Eugene Muskerry 75 NR - - Hurley, Eamon Lisselan 72 NR - - Kelleher, Brian Cork 72 NR - - Kirby, Brian Muskerry 78 NR - - Linehan, Diarmuid Muskerry 74 NR - - Long, Eoghan Monkstown 74 NR - - Moore, Nick Monkstown 75 NR - - O'Connell, Alan Muskerry 79 NR - - O'Flynn, Jack Cork NR - - O'Keeffe, Joe Muskerry 75 NR - - O'Mahony, Greg Fota Island 74 NR - - O'Mahony, James Cork NR - - O'Neill, John Lee Valley NR - - O'Shea, Ger Muskerry 76 NR - - Power, Pat Lee Valley NR - - Rumley, Eric Kinsale 72 NR - - Spillane, Ian Mallow NR - - Spratt, Philip West Waterford 73 NR -

Rory McIlroy is just one shot off the lead but Shane Lowry is having a great Masters. Just look at the statistics.

While McIlroy leads the Clara man in eagles (1-0) and birdies (9-8), Lowry is ahead in virtually every other category. 

As for Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell, it's easy to see where their problems lay as the missed he cut comfortably.

Both struggled on the treacherous greens with Clarke racking up five three-putts, the most in the field (tied with Vijay Singh) with McDowell totalling four to match the likes of Ernie Els.

Download all the stats

• Course Statistics-Cumulative.pdf
• Course Statistics-Round2.pdf
• HoleByHole Player Performance CurrentRound.pdf
• Hole By Hole Player Performance-Round2.pdf
• Leaderboard-Round2.pdf
• Birdies-Cumulative.pdf
• Birdies-Round2.pdf
• DrivingDistance-Cumulative.pdf

Driving distance

• 1 Dustin Johnson 293.0 
• 2 Adam Scott 290.9
• 19 Shane Lowry 280
• T20 Rory McIlroy 280.1
• 47 Darren Clarke 272.9
• T51 Graeme McDowell 272.1

Fairways

• 1 Kevin Streelman 26/28 (92.86%)
• T12 Shane Lowry 22/28 (78.57%)
• T20 Rory McIlroy 21/28 (75%)
• T40 Darren Clarke 19/28 (67.86%)
• T55 Graeme McDowell 18/28 (64.29%)

GIR

• 1 Matthew Fitzpatrick 29/36 (80.56%)
• T2 Soren Kjeldsen/Justin Rose 27/36 (75%)
• T18 Rory McIlroy/Shane Lowry 24/36 (66.67%)
• T46 Graeme McDowell 21/36 (58.33%)
• T63 Darren Clarke 19/36 (52.78%)

Putts

• 1 Angel Cabrera 52 (1.44)
• T9 Shane Lowry 57 (1.58)
• T29 Rory McIlroy 60 (1.67)
• T61 Graeme McDowell 63 (1.75)
• T79 Darren Clarke 66 (1.83)

Putts in GIR

• 1 Hideki Matsuyama 30/19 hole 1.58
• 5 Shane Lowry 41/24 holes 1.71
• T7 Rory McIlroy 42/24 holes 1.75
• T11 Jordan Spieth 39/22 holes 1.77
• T67 Graeme McDowell 41/21 1.95
• T77 Darren Clarke 38/19 2.0

Three-putts

• T88 Darren Clarke 5/36
• T77 Graeme McDowell 4/36
• T29 Rory McIlroy 2/36; Jordan Spieth 2/36
• T8 Shane Lowry 1/36
• T1 Marc Leishman, Thongchai Jaidee, Keegan Bradley, Bernhard Langer, Troy Merritt, Hideki Matsuyama, Soren Kjeldsen 0/36

Eagles

• T1 Rory McIlroy 1

Birdies

• T1 Jordan Spieth/Emiliano Grillo 10/36
• T3 Rory McIlroy, Danny Lee, Brandt Snedeker, Hideki Matsuyama, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Paul Casey Cheng Jin (a) 9/36
• T11 Shane Lowry 8/36
• T43 Graeme McDowell 5/36
• T59 Darren Clarke 4/36

Seamus Power

Seamus Power fired a five under par 67 to trail Brad Fritsch by just two shots in the Servientrega Championship Presented by Efecty on the Web.com Tour.

The West Waterford man made his sixth birdie of the day at the 18th at TPC Cartagena to share fourth spot in six under par as Fritsch shot a seven-under 65 to move into the lead.

The Canadian’s eight-under 136 total gave him a one-stroke advantage over veteran Jonathan Byrd (67) and Argentina's Jorge Fernandez-Valdes (68) after 36 holes.

Power shares fourth place with Jason Millard, who finished No. 5 on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Order of Merit last season.

“Playing today in the morning was such an advantage,” said Fritsch, who teed off at 6:30 a.m. “If there was ever a good draw, this was the one.”

Power is 65th in the Web.com Tour money list in the race to win one of 25 spots on the PGA Tour next season.

He's made three of four cuts this and earned $9,273 with his best finish a share of 28th in the Brasil Champions presented by Embrase in early March.

Rory McIlroy fist pumps after a crucial birdie putt drops at the 13th

Rory McIlroy feels somewhat aggrieved that he didn’t win the 2011 Masters but rather than feeling he’s owed a green jacket, he will have go out and rip it off Jordan Spieth’s back over the weekend.

The game’s two young turks will go head to head on Saturday with Spieth’s 74 leaving him a shot ahead of McIlroy, who played his last six holes in three under par to post a joint best of the day 71 in treacherous swirling winds.

It was surprising to hear McIlroy admit what he’d denied previously and confess that he feels the Masters owes him.

“I sort of feel that Augusta owes me something and I have come with that attitude,” McIlroy said. “I have come here to get something that I should have had a long time ago. You need to be so focussed and in control of your emotions here. It’s about not getting fazed and mentally I have been good the last couple of days. I need to keep that going for the next two days.”

McIlroy insisted the wasn’t thinking too much about his duel with Spieth. But the American got any doubts about what it means when he said he’d be somewhat intimidated by the man from Northern Ireland.

“No, I don't think it's a comfort level,” he said when asked about being paired with a player he likes. “I'd rather be playing with someone less threatening to be honest. He’s certainly proven himself in majors.  But I think it's going to be fun, a really fun challenge.”

With the top 22 on the leaderboard covered by five shots it promises to be an exciting weekend with more carnage forecast on Saturday as the west wind is expected to blow hard once more.

McIlroy got off to a flying start with birdies at the second and third. But he then had one of his famous wobbles with his 13th double bogey at Augusta at the fourth (he three putted after bunkering his tee shot) and a bogey at the fifth, leaving him back on two under par.

When he three putted the 11th to fall back to level par, he looked up at the leaderboard to see that Spieth had started birdie-par-birdie to go eight shots ahead on eight under par.

It wasn’t the best time to play the tough, par three 12th with its swirling wind but MciLroy found the green, made par and then birdied the 13th and the 15th before making an outlandish 40 footer for a two at the 16th.

A miraculous four at the last got him into the clubhouse at three under and Spieth suddenly started shedding shots over the last 14 holes with a four putt double bogey at the fifth undergoing his early good work.

While he birdied the eighth, he dropped another shot at the ninth to tin in level par, then came home in two over with bogeys at the 16th and 17th followed by a gutsy 15 foot par save at the last for a 74.

"The most comfortable thing for me on this golf course is knowing that even if you are five or six shots back, things can change quite quickly," McIlroy said. "I've been on the opposite end of that where things can start to get away from you."

A green jacket is all that stands between McIlroy and the career Grand Slam. 

He had one arm in that jacket back in 2011 when he took a four-shot lead into the final round, only to close with an 80 and finish 10 shots behind.

Redemption is at hand and if he continues to play the par fives well — he’s seven under this week for the eight holes — he will take a lot of stopping.

His birdie at the 16th was certainly a bonus and he’s clearly closed the gap on SPieth on the greens. Whether he can make it count when the Masters is on the line remains to be seen.

"I started it ... maybe 6 feet left of the hole and just got it up there really, really high," McIlroy said of his outlandish two at the 16th. 

"And basically let gravity and wind take it the rest of the way. I was just looking to two-putt, try to get it within 2 or 3 feet of the hole. And it was a bonus when it dropped."

"I probably would have taken three pars to finish and I would have been happy," he added in reference to his determination not to drop late shots as he did on Thursday

As for his head to head with Spieth, he tried to play it down.

But having shown signs that Spieth’s putting prowess frustrates him — it was clear at Doral when he reacted to a Spieth birdie on the eighth with a double bogey five at the next — he will have to try doubly hard not to get sucked in to a putting contest.  

It would add a lot of excitement and buzz and atmosphere to the tournament obviously,” he conceded.  “I've been concentrating, I've said this from the start, I've been concentrating on myself out there, because if you start to think about anyone else ‑‑ I've only got the mental capacity to focus on me right now and especially how tough it is out there.  Just focusing on myself, battling and grinding and digging deep when I need to; I think I'm going to have to do that again tomorrow regardless of who I play with, because it looks like the conditions are going to be similar.  

“Yeah, it would be great for the tournament and create a lot of buzz, but at the same time, I just need to focus on myself and make sure that I play another solid round of golf.”

Reflecting on the importance of his round, he hit the nail on the head when he said: “It's up there.  I kept my composure and I played the shots when I needed to.  So it's only the second day; there's still two days to go. 

“But it's a great round and it's nice to be up there near the lead going into the weekend here instead of on the cut line and having to battle back where I found myself the last couple years.  I'm happy with where I'm at.”

Shane Lowry hits his second to the 13th

There are moments when you just have to stand up and be counted and Shane Lowry accomplished that mission to keep his Masters dream alive on a freaky Friday at Augusta National.

The Clara star, 29, confessed it would have been easy to throw in the towel and shoot in the 80s in gusting winds on a course where the average score was over 75 and players like Phil Mickelson shot 79 to miss the cut

But Lowry remained strong mentally for the second day running and dug deep to limit the damage to a 76 that leaves him on level par and well in the hunt heading into the weekend 

As Darren Clarke posted a nightmare 84 to end up on 16 over and Graeme McDowell missed his sixth mixed cut in nine Master appearances with an 81— his worst score since he opened with a 79 on his debut in 2005 — Lowry’s bogey at the 18th was a mere flesh wound.

In Clarke’s case, it could be his last Masters appearance as he was playing on the final year of a five-year exemption for winning The Open in 2011.

But this looks like the start of a brilliant Masters future for Lowry, who missed the cut on his debut last year and made sure he was far better prepared this year

Disappointed to bogey the last but quietly pleased with the mental strength he showed over the first two rounds, Lowry said: “There is an 80 out there today without doing much wrong.  You have to fight and grind for every par and that is what I did today. 

“I felt like I fought really hard today and I was really disappointed to bogey the last because if I had been standing here one under I would have been really happy. But I am still in a decent spot for the weekend depending on what the leaders do.

“You have to be mentally strong and tough and I managed to keep my head on quite well today and play some golf. 

Shane Lowry chips dead at the 13th to set up a birdie four

“A little disappointed with 76 but the two round total is good. It’s up to me to do what I can tomorrow and give myself half a chance for Sunday.”

Two over after two — he missed the green at the first and then tugged his second a hair at the par-five second and ricocheted deep into the bushes — he kept his cool on a day when many lost the plot.

“It was tough,” Lowry said. “And I didn’t do myself any favours with the start I got off to which was just purely a mental error on the first and second and all of a sudden I have two bogeys on the card.”

A par save from 12 feet at the third steadied the ship and when he birdied the ninth to turn in one over, he was still inside the top five.

A bogey at the 11th, the toughest hole this week, almost felt like a par five.

But when he tugged his tee shot into the bushes at the 12th and ran up a double bogey five, he was happy to play the last six holes in level par and avoid any more heartache.

After chipping dead for birdie at the 13th, he three putted the 14th but then drained a 12 footer for birdie at the 15th to get back to one under for the tournament before that late bogey took just a little of the gloss off an otherwise decent day.

He added: “The par save on three got me going and I was off and running after that. I felt I played well today it was just so tough.

“I just tugged the tee shot on 12 and ended up in a bush. I dropped it on the bush and just got it out and then got up and down for five. 

“It was actually a decent five in the end – there is no way I wanted to go back to that tee!

“There are just some pins you can’t get to. It was definitely a course set up for level par to be a good score today. When you get your chances you have to take them. I missed a great chance on 16 to get to two under but then I made a great par save on 17.”