Still, The Best Result Come to Mcllro

Rory McIlroy of N. Ireland hits from the No. 2 fairway bunker during the final round of the 2011 Masters Tournament.

Without exception, the media and his peers marveled at his effortlessness. He possessed the calm, collected demeanor of a young man mature beyond his years. Cooler than the other side of the pillow.

In his third Masters appearance, Rory must have understood all the bad stuff that could happen. So many things could go wrong. And sadly, most of them did. Repeatedly.

Rory McIlory may have lost the match and tied for 15th, but he gained millions of fans with his gutty performance. If this lousy round had happened any other day, nobody would ever have noticed.

It's impossible to figure out what precipitated a collapse worthy of a Senate investigation. Did he wilt in the heat? Wither under the pressure? Was the Celtic Tiger spooked to hear the roar of his older American cousin ahead of him?

Maybe it was the growing legion of following fans. Or playing for the first time all week with someone not named Jason Day. Perhaps he was unnerved by CBS and its 8,000 cameras trained so tight the whole world could examine the texture of the hairs inside his left nostril.

But collapse he did. Bogey on the first hole. Second hole drives into a bunker. Scrapes the bunker on the way out, then quickly into another bunker. Beach to beach. A lot of us can relate. And when we can relate, that's not so good, buddy. A par save seemed like a victory. But in the pairing ahead of him, Charl Schwartzel pitched in a birdie on the first hole, then an eagle on the par-4 third. McIlroy went from a four-stroke lead to being tied after two holes.

And if you think that wouldn't unnerve you, you should really see about having your central nervous system reconnected to your brain stem. Despite the roars echoing around him, McIlroy did pull it together to lead the field by one after the first nine. But the roof fell in on 10, and the falling continued right off the leader board, culminating in an affecting, anguished pose on 13 after he pulled his drive into the Fruitlands Branch tributary of Rae's Creek.