Rory McIlroy disappointed with weekend performance at Masters

The “next” Masters Tournament for young Rory McIlroy wasn’t the resounding rebound he had in mind.

The 22-year-old McIlroy put himself in perfect position after two days to permanently erase the 80 he put up in the final round of 2011, a number that sent him tumbling from the 54-hole lead to a tie for 15th.

McIlroy opened the 2012 Masters Tournament with a 71-69, but 77 on Saturday and 76 on Sunday meant he played the weekend at 9-over.

McIlroy finished 5-over for the tournament, leaving him out of contention for his first green jacket and another year of waiting to prove his 2011 disappointment won’t be a constant 100-pound weight on his shoulders.

“Hey, one better than yesterday,” McIlroy said of Sunday’s round. “I wasn’t good. I got off to another bad start and just couldn’t recover from that. It was just a tough one, because I felt like coming into the weekend I had a chance. To sort of blow it on the first nine holes Saturday, wasn’t great.”

McIlroy opened Saturday with 6-over 42 with double bogeys at Nos. 1 and 7, along with bogeys at Nos. 5 and 8.

McIlroy began Sunday with a bogey on No. 1 and played the opening hole at 5-over for the tournament.

“I really didn’t have my best (Sunday),” McIlroy said. “I have 12 months to get over this and that’s a long time. It was fun last year (here) and a lot has happened since. You know, everything is fine. I was obviously coming in here hoping to do a lot better. I felt like I had that chance going into the weekend. It just didn’t happen.”

Fellow Northern Ireland native Graeme McDowell, the 2010 U.S. Open champion who played with McIlroy on Sunday, said his countryman will have better days at Augusta National.

“Rory is not used to being out of contention, it’s been six months and it’s like he’s never been out of the top five,” McDowell said. “He had the wind knocked out of his sails (Saturday). I’m sure he had high hopes this weekend. It’s a hard game. When the adrenaline leaves the body, when the desire to perform leaves the body, it’s interesting how the score can escalate. ... Rory looked like a man who couldn’t wait to get out of here. He will be back and is tailor made for this golf course.”

McIIroy said his attention now moves to the 2012 U.S. Open in June at the Olympic Club where he will play as the defending champion.

“The U.S. Open is the next tournament and I will be trying to get myself up for,” McIlory said. “Hopefully, I can make a good defense of it in San Francisco and try to get another major in the bag.”