Rory McIlroy: Young Star Must Take Augusta by Storm in 2013

While Rory McIlroy didn't see quite the same collapse as he did at last year's Masters tournament, the young star must come up big next year after yet again failing to finish near the top of the leaderboard at this year's event.

McIlroy finished this year's tournament at five-under as he fell apart during the last two rounds.

He didn't have quite the same lead that he did a year ago, as he was four-under heading into the third day. However, unfortunately for McIlroy, he still fell apart, recording four bogeys and two double bogeys to his three birdies to finish with a score of 77.

That took McIlroy from four-under to one-over for the tournament—essentially a bad final round took him out of contention.

That is what happened, as McIlroy shot four-over par for the final day, taking his tournament total to five-over.

As previously mentioned, this wasn't as bad as McIlroy's epic collapse in 2011, where he came into the final day with the lead to shoot an 80 that would essentially take him out of the thick of things.

After these two previous outings, and lofty expectations, McIlroy can't afford to fall apart at the Masters yet again in 2013.

While winning the whole thing isn't a must, McIlroy must at least stay towards the top of the leaderboard to seal his fate as a future stud of the game.

If he once against fails to compete, or at least falls apart on one of golf's biggest stages, many are going to wonder if he can ever do it.

McIlroy has proven time and time again that he can separate himself from the field with ease. It will take one of those performances the next time around for him to prove to the world that he is the next greatest thing on the tour.