Rory McIlroy Shoots Final-Round 69 to Register Top-10 Finish at the 2017 Masters
Rory McIlroy's first green jacket will have to wait.
McIlroy carded a three-under 69 in Sunday's final round at the 2017 Masters Tournament, sending him into the clubhouse in a tie for seventh place and five strokes off the lead. He was tied for second among players who have finished their final round at the time of this writing.
Sitting at even going into the final 18 holes, McIlroy was always facing an uphill battle. The leaders began their day at six under, and the beautiful weather in Augusta made for solid scoring conditions.
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| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 36 | |
| Score | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 35 | |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
| Score | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 34 | 69 |
McIlroy took advantage to have his best round of his week, carding four birdies against one bogey to continue the solid pace he set Saturday. If McIlroy had been as consistent Thursday and Friday as he was over the weekend, there's a chance he would have been in contention Sunday afternoon.
After posting eight bogeys over his first two rounds, McIlroy had just two (plus a double) in his final 36 holes. He also avoided the one major letdown that has seemingly plagued him throughout his years chasing a green jacket. Two of the previous three years, McIlroy posted a score of 77 in a round to knock himself out of contention.
This is nevertheless his fourth straight top-10 finish in Augusta, making it all the more obvious his career grand slam is going to happen sometime in the future. McIlroy knows the course, plays it with a solid consistency (save for the occasional meltdown) and remains one of the world's best golfers.
The Northern Irishman avoided bogeying No. 1 for the second straight day (he'd bogeyed the first hole each of the first two rounds), and followed it up by birdieing the par-five second for the third consecutive round. His lone bogey of the day came on the par-three fourth after a poor tee shot left him trying (and failing) to save par.
From thereon, McIlroy turned in one of his best-ever stretches of golf at Augusta. The par fives once again did him well at No. 8, as he made the turn at one under after recording a birdie. He added another birdie at No. 13 to put him at three under for the day on par fives.
While McIlroy only parred the par-five 15th, but he made up for it on the following hole. McIlroy stuck his tee shot close to the hole and buried a birdie putt to move to three under for the day.
Independent Sport complimented McIlroy's back nine:
The Masters followed something of a pattern for McIlroy in 2017. He has finished in the top 10 in all but one of his PGA Tour events since October but hasn't recorded a win since taking last year's FedEx Cup. We're far from his reaching drought status, but it has to be a little frustrating for McIlroy to get close but not over the edge.
Post-Round Reaction
McIlroy spoke of coming up short after the round, per Independent.ie: "It wasn't quite as adventurous as previous Masters have been for me," McIlroy said. "I didn't get too high with some really low nine-hole scores, but I didn't shoot any nine-hole scores that were in the 40s. It was quite a consistent, steady Masters for me.
"It wasn't quite good enough. I felt like I had an opportunity yesterday to shoot something in the mid- to high 60s, which would have got me closer to the lead today, and I didn't quite do that.
"I gave a decent account for myself and will come back next year and try again."
He also discussed his time off for injury: "I feel the time off was more of a blessing. I got to work on some stuff in my short game. I felt as comfortable on the greens here as I ever had, even though I had a couple of three‑putts.
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