Rory McIlroy at Masters 2015: Leaderboard Score, Twitter Reaction from Sunday

Rory McIlroy didn't walk away from the 2015 Masters with his first green jacket, but there were a lot of positives to build on the rest of this season. The world's top-ranked player walked off of the final green at Augusta with a final-round score of 66 for an overall score of 12 under.   

Here's the full leaderboard following Sunday's final round:

Despite not winning and finishing the career grand slam, McIlroy did post his best finish ever at the Masters this year, besting his previous high of being tied for eighth in 2014.

This is going to be one of those tournaments McIlroy looks back on thinking about what might have been. According to Shane Bacon of Yahoo Sports, the 25-year-old would have been 15 under going to the back nine Friday:

If you average that out over 72 holes, McIlroy's score would be 24 under. Even Jordan Spieth's record-breaking run wasn't that good, but sadly, those first 27 holes have to be included. 

Going back to last year's British Open and PGA Championship, which he won last year, McIlroy has been lights out in major events, per Justin Ray of the Golf Channel:

ESPN.com's Jason Sobel noted McIlroy has developed a knack for quietly finishing in the top five thanks to strong finishes after slow starts:

More impressive than that is the way McIlroy battled back against adversity. He made the turn Friday on the verge of missing the cut before firing 31 on the final nine holes to enter the weekend under par. He used that momentum to shoot a strong four-under 68 Saturday. 

With no mounting pressure on him since winning was virtually impossible, McIlroy was able to just grip it and rip it, which he did with his first two tee shots, per the European Tour:

McIlroy acknowledged after the third round, per ESPN.com's Bob Harig, what he was facing with 18 holes to play, and he knew his chances were slim: "I'll try and get off to a good start like I did today. If I do that it really depends... if I was to go out and shoot 30, I'm going to need something around 61 or 62 to have a chance. Not sure that's going to happen."

While no competitor wants to be on the course or field without a chance to win, there is something liberating about knowing you have nothing to lose. McIlroy is usually great under any circumstance, but McIlroy with nothing to lose is lethal. 

Spieth's win also potentially sets up a new rivalry that golf has been looking for, as Clay Travis of Fox Sports 1 mentioned:

Golf is littered with rivalries, both friendly and contentious, throughout history. Arnold Palmer vs. Jack Nicklaus defined an older generation of fans. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson carried the last decade of the sport. 

McIlroy and Spieth has the potential to be something special for the next 10-15 years. McIlroy has a leg up in total majors (four), but Spieth now has the one that McIlroy is still chasing. 

Given the immense talent that McIlroy has, it's only a matter of time before he's wearing a green jacket. No one was going to catch Spieth in 2015. It was just one of those weird years where a lot of player had scores good enough to win most years, but none of them had a shot. 

Despite the disappointment of another year without being able to finish off the career grand slam, McIlroy has been on point since that awful start in the second round. He's capable of going on a run like no one else on tour, so keep an eye on him heading into the U.S. Open in June.