Rory McIlroy led the 2011 Masters after 54 holes, but he ended up tied for 15th after a disastrous back nine in the final round. Despite the epic collapse, McIlroy showed class and maturity following the disappointing finish. Conducting what could have been an incredibly uncomfortable interview with CBS’ Peter Kostis, the youngster described his tournament as a learning experience.
“I thought I hung in pretty well in the front line, I was leading the tournament going into the back nine,” said McIlroy. “Just hit a poor tee shot on 10 and sort of unraveled from there. Just sort of lost it 10, 11, 12, and couldn’t really get it back. It’s one of those things, I’m very disappointed at the minute and I’m sure I will be for the next few days, but I’ll get over it. I have to take the positives and the positives are I led this golf tournament for 63 holes. I’ll have plenty more chances, I know that. It’s very disappointing what happened today and hopefully it will build a little bit of character in me as well.”
It could not have been easy to talk about blowing the tournament, but McIlroy did it graciously. Think about it: McIlroy entered with a four-stroke lead, triple-bogeyed on 10, and finished with a final round 80 — 10 strokes behind Charl Schwartzel. It was an epic collapse, but based on his character, it looks like McIlroy will be able to leave it in the past.
McIlroy is only 21 years old so we have little doubt he will be back. Hopefully next time he’ll be able to hold on for the win when he’s leading a major on Sunday.
