Rory McIlroy Comes Up Short in Final Round of Masters After Shooting 2-Over

Rory McIlroy's quest for a green jacket will have to wait another year.

McIlroy carded a two-over 74 in Sunday's final round of the 2018 Masters Tournament, finishing in a four-way tie for fifth place and six strokes behind winner Patrick Reed. McIlroy and Reed played in the same pairing but had wildly different results.

While Reed held on for a one-stroke win over the charging Rickie Fowler, McIlroy squandered a chance to complete the career grand slam.

The Northern Irishman played a wild front nine, starting with a par on No. 1 before alternating birdies and bogeys from Nos. 2-5. He made the turn at one-over after bogeying the par-five eighth and moved to two-over after digging himself a hole on No. 11.

After a red number on the par-five 13th got him within a shot of even par for the day, McIlroy gave that stroke back on the next hole and parred out to close his round. Reed made two birdies on the back nine (Nos. 12 and 14) to save his round and win the tournament.

Both players were surprisingly ineffective after others in the field posted low numbers. Jordan Spieth came roaring from behind to finish third, carding an eight-under 64 to close the tournament at 13-under. The brilliant round put pressure on the rest of the field.

Fowler's strong back-nine push allowed him to finish with a five-under 67 and at 14-under for the tournament. He made four birdies and five pars on the final nine holes.

The Masters is the lone major McIlroy has not won. He captured the U.S. Open in 2011, The Open Championship in 2014 and has won two PGA Championships (2012 and 2014). It's been more than three full years since his last major win, however, and his Masters performances have been defined by falling just short.

McIlroy has finished inside the top 10 in each of his last five trips to Augusta but never any better than fourth. Two of those events included one poor round that undid three rounds of stellar work. In this case, a two-over final round pushed McIlroy out of the picture on a day when Reed opened the door for his competitors.