Rory Can Laugh About Meltdown

Rory McIlroy says he is now able to see the funny side of his 2011 final-round nightmare at Augusta.

The 22-year-old US Open champion carried a four-stroke lead into the Sunday, but shot an eight-over-par 80 to finish on four under, 10 shy of South African winner Charl Schwartzel.

"At this stage I can laugh about it," McIlroy told BBC Radio 5 live.

“It's big coming here as a reigning major champion”Rory McIlroy on BBC Radio 5 live

He added: "One of the things I learnt was that as a person and as a golfer I wasn't ready to win the Masters."

McIlroy, who, earlier this year, became the second youngest golfer to hold the world number one spot , said a practice round on the course last week reminded him of the moment his challenge went "pear-shaped" .

"It was the first time I'd been on the course since last year and the first time I'd been on the 10th," said the Northern Ireland world number two.

"Playing the 10th brings back memories, but once you get it out of the way it's fine and you just concentrate on the week."

Of the 10th hole, where he drove his tee shot into the area near the cabins, he added: "I said at the news conference that I didn't realise how close to tee-box those cabins were. I thought they were a lot further down the fairway. It's nice to be able to laugh about it."

McIlroy was still one ahead heading up to the hole but then recorded a triple-bogey, bogey and double-bogey.

The Holywood player said his US Open triumph at Bethsheba in June 2011 helped ease the pain of Augusta.

"It's big coming here as a reigning major champion," he continued.

"I didn't know what was going to happen after this time last year. I didn't know whether it was going to have an effect or whether I would bounce back.

"But I was able to bounce back straight away. It's great to win a major, but to win so soon after what happened here [at Augusta] is extra special."

It is set to be another hotly-contested tournament and McIlroy believes 14-major winner Tiger Woods's return to form will add to the excitement.

“If he ends up learning this golf course I think he's going to win here a number of times”Phil Mickelson on McIlroy

"So many players are playing well and Tiger's back near the top of his game. This week could be one of the best Masters for a long time," he added.

McIlroy has also been awarded the European Tour's Golfer of the Month award for March after winning the Honda Classic in Florida to become the second youngest holder of the world number one title.

"It's always nice to receive these plaudits and honours," he said. "There were a couple of guys in with a great chance last month, so it's nice to come out on top."

Meanwhile, three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson has spoken in glowing terms of McIlroy's ability and believes the Irishman also has the ability to win the tournament several times.

"I think that he's an incredible player," said Mickelson, who won his first major at Augusta in 2004.

"That you could tell when he first came out. I think, like everybody here, you can see his talent and his ability. He plays without fear, which is a great way to play.

"When you get soft conditions like at the US Open he's going to light it up - and I think that he's going to continue his great play.

"If he ends up learning this golf course I think he's going to win here a number of times."

Seve Memory at Champions Dinner

The death of Seve Ballesteros will be remembered at the annual Masters champions dinner in Augusta on Tuesday.

Jose Maria Olazabal, with whom Ballesteros formed the most lethal partnership in Ryder Cup history, is among those present for what is sure to be a emotional moment.

"There is always a mention during the dinner of the players who have passed away in the year just gone," Olazabal said.

"It's one of the beauties of this place that they show their respect to those we have lost."

Olazabal, now Europe's Ryder Cup captain, has overcome a cracked bone in his foot to be present and playing in the event that he - like Ballesteros - won twice.

"I was on a treadmill when I felt something and it kept me out of the Open de Andalucia three weeks ago, but I've been able to practise and this is one tournament I always love to play whenever I possibly can."

The 46-year-old missed the event in 1996 as he battled with rheumatism, but won for the second time only three years later.

Ballesteros died last May after being diagnosed with a brain tumour late in 2008. His final Masters appearance came the year before.

Rory Paired with Angel and Bubba

US Open champion Rory McIlroy has been drawn with 2009 Masters champion Angel Cabrera and America's Bubba Watson for the opening two rounds at Augusta.

McIlroy, 22, was partnered with Cabrera when he had his final day collapse at the tournament last year, shooting 80.

Tiger Woods, who is bidding for his fifth Green Jacket, will play alongside Miguel Angel Jimenez and Bae Sang-moon.

England's world number one Luke Donald has been drawn with Italy's Francesco Molinari and American Nick Watney.

Craig Stadler, the 1982 champion, will get the competition under way at 1250 BST - 10 minutes after former champions Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player have hit ceremonial drives from the opening tee as official starters.

America's three-time champion Phil Mickelson, compatriot Hunter Mahan, who won the Houston Open on Sunday, and Swede Peter Hanson, will be the final group out on Thursday at 1853 BST.

Lee Westwood, who finished as runner-up at Augusta in 2009, tees off with 2000 champion Vijay Singh of Fiji and Jim Furyk of the United States.

Open champion Darren Clarke will partner Japan's Ryo Ishikawa and American Fred Couples.

World number 12 Dustin Johnson has pulled out with a back injury, reducing the field to 96 players as there are no reserves.

"First I have to apologise to the fans and sponsors," Johnson tweeted. "With heartfelt regret, I won't be playing in the Masters due to a tweaked back. I'll have to root for my buddies!"

Full list of tee-off times for the Masters first and second rounds.

Losing No1 Best for Mc-Masters

Horizon Sports team mate, Graeme McDowell believes that Luke Donald may have done Rory McIlroy a favour by knocking the Holywood golfer  off the top of the world rankings.

The Ulsterman is facing a mountain of pressure as he heads for Augusta this week after his spectacular collapse in the ­Masters last year.

Despite going on to win the US Open within weeks, McIlroy is not being allowed to forget how, after leading by four shots going into the final round, he threw away his Green Jacket chances by carding an 80.

But according to Graeme ­McDowell, McIlroy’s closest ­golfing mate, Donald’s rise back to No.1 when he won the US Tour’s Transitions tournament will make Rory’s job easier.

“There is no doubt that Rory will go back to Augusta feeling a little bit that he has a point to make after what happened,” said McDowell. “But the thing is also that if Rory was going into the Masters as World No.1 he would be carrying all that extra ­expectation as well.

“The fact that Luke has got back to World No.1 is going to be a bonus for Rory as it will just take the ­pressure off him that tiny bit more.”

But McDowell also insists that his Ryder Cup partner has proved over the past year that, whatever the pressures, McIlroy has the all-round game to conquer ­Augusta and pick up his second Major.

G Mac said: “If Rory designed a golf course, I would imagine it would look a lot like Augusta because it suits his game.

“And since what has happened at ­Augusta last year he has bounced back and had an incredible 12 months.”

Although Donald has been World No.1 for all but two weeks since winning the European PGA Championship at Wentworth last year, the chance of him finally winning a first Major title next week have ­barely got a mention.

Instead the emphasis has been on turning the Masters into a head-to-head battle between McIlroy and Tiger Woods, after the American ended a three-year victory drought on the US Tour by winning at Bay Hill last ­Sunday.

But McIlroy is stubbornly ­refusing to discuss any comparison ­between himself and the golfer he idolised when he first took up golf as a primary schoolboy.

He insisted: “I’m going to let other people do that. I’m not going to try and compare myself to anyone else. I’ve never said that I want to be the next ­anyone. I just want to be the first Rory McIlroy.

“To be honest, in golf you can have a rival if you want, but at the end of the day your ­biggest rival is a golf course.

“You have to be able to beat the golf course.

“More often than not that’s all you are trying to do.”

Rory McIlroy Regrets Sawgrass

Rory McIlroy has revealed he dumped manager Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler because he felt he was 'being led down the wrong path'. 

The 22-year-old star made the decision in October last year and has gone from strength to strength, winning three times since the split and rising to second in the world rankings. 

McIlroy told irishgolfdesk.com: 'I felt like the path I was going down wasn't the path I wanted to go down.'

According to the website, McIlroy regretted giving up his PGA Tour card at the end of 2010 as well as not going to the Players Championship at Sawgrass under the influence of Chandler and International Sports Management stablemate Lee Westwood. 

On Sawgrass, McIlroy said: 'That's another example of being involved with Chubby and ISM and maybe being led down the wrong path, or a path that I didn't want to go down. It was something I sort of felt like I had to do.

'I think just spending a little bit of time around Chubby and Lee and hearing their view of the PGA Tour - obviously they're very pro-European Tour - while I've always been one who wanted to play on the PGA Tour. 

'Not playing Sawgrass was one of the decisions I look back on and regret a little bit.'

McIlroy is now managed by Dublin-based Horizon Sports Management.

Chandler, the larger-than-life boss of ISM, said last week that he is not bitter about losing young superstar McIlroy from his stable of top golfers.

On the eve of the US Masters at Augusta National - a tournament many believe the Ulsterman blew a year ago when, standing on the 10th tee with a one-shot lead, he hoiked his drive into the garden of one of the houses that border the fairway - Chandler admitted: 'I didn't really see it coming, but I don't think of what we might have missed.

'We had four-and-a-half years of helping to nurture an unbelievable talent. And, with our without ISM, Rory will become a great player. He will go on to win 10 majors, maybe more.'

The split came four months after McIlroy's major breakthrough, when he won the US Open at Congressional Country Club.