PATCH! Rory roars... but will struggle to rock DJ
For all his efforts it is surely a leap too far given the traffic ahead of him – including world
No.1 Dustin Johnson.
If he falls short in his career Grand Slam bid for the sixth time of asking he will be kicking himself for his feeble start.
It is to McIlroy’s credit that he has fought so hard since, with his
67 yesterday following on from a second round 66.
But the dreadful opening 75 – his worst start to a Masters – has been too heavy an anchor to drag.
He was left crossing his fingers no one streaked away at the head of the field.
But Johnson, the co-leader after round two, came out like an express train at the start of his third round reaching the turn in a stunning 31 blows.
And while McIlroy tried his heart out in a compelling third round of six birdies, he needed to pull off a bank job on the back nine par 5s and could not deliver.
A three-putt bogey on the 13th after a visit to the trees off the tee stopped him in his tracks.
A splash-down at the 15th compounded the pain and though he salvaged a par, the window had closed.
Playing with the ageless Bernhard Langer (right),
McI lroy squeezed every last drop out of his front nine, birdieing both the par fives and then the ninth after a great recovery shot from the pine straw. When he chipped in from the front bunker at the short 12th for his fifth birdie of the round he was suddenly inside the top 10. For a tantalising moment he was springing along like Zebedee. But then came the par 5s. He managed to curl in another birdie putt at the short 16th and parred his final two holes to stand at eight under.
Good but not good enough. As McIlroy rose up the leaderboard, Tiger Woods fell down it. After his dream start on Thurs Thursday, the defending cha champion has regressed. After his glorious victory 19 months ago, he will be slipping the Jacket on another man tonight.
Sadly, once again, it is unlikely to be McIlroy.