US MASTERS: THE TWO most recent US Open champions had a rather decent breakfast. It may not have included the traditional Ulster fry, but that new-fangled gadget, the sling box, enabled Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy to watch Ulster's rugby win over Munster.

It should have provided the perfect aperitif for the duo as they ventured forth together, literally side-by-side, into the final round. Only one of them stood up, though. G-Mac fired a superb 68 for a two-under-par 286, which propelled him into a top-15 finish, but Wee Mac – who’d been lethargic and out-of-sorts in a third round with Sergio Garcia that had as much energy as a flat battery – continued to struggleand signed for a 76, which left him on five-over for the championship.Just an hour before he headedout, McDowell had tweeted:“Happy Easter and MastersSunday guys. Noon tee time with @McIlroyRory. Some scoring pinstoday.”

And while McDowell made a fist of getting to grips with thecourse, it proved to be anothervery frustrating round for McIlroy. The old magic that had put him into prime position going into the weekend had dissipated,as he fell into the shadows of his fellow-Ulsterman.McIlroy’s woes started as early as the first hole, where he three-putted for bogey, and continued on the fifth, where he put his approach over the back and failed to get up and down to save par. On the sixth hole, a downhill par three, McDowell and McIlroy glanced at the giant scoreboard to their left as they descended the hill to note that Bo Van Pelt had

reached five-under on his round through 14 holes. Minutes later, shortly after the scoreboard attendant changed to show that Van Pelt had failed to birdie the 15th, an unmerciful roar erupted from the adjacent 16th green, just as McDowell lined up his par. The gigantic roar told only one story: Van Pelt had holed-in-one on the 16th.

And, although McDowell backed off his own putt, and regrouped, he missed his par save. Strangely, the hoopla around Van Pelt’s ace kick-started McDowell’s move. As he explained: “In a funny way, the roars and the cheers going up around do energise you. There is something fun about laughing and joking with the crowds as another bomb goes off and another hole-in-one goes in. “ McDowell responded to that

lapse with back-to-back birdies on the seventh, where he hit his approach 40ft above the hole and spun the ball back to two feet, and the eighth holes. McIlroy’s fortunes went in the opposite direction: he bogeyed the seventh, after his ball hit the green only to spin back off, failed to birdie the eighth and, after seeming to get back on the bike with a birdie at the ninth, the current US Open champion started the homeward run with a bogey at 10 and a double-bogey at 11. Oh dear: Sundays at Augusta have provided bad memories for the man from Holywood.

McDowell got the bragging rights. “It took me a couple of days to get into my groove, into my rhythm, on this golf course. I felt so negative on Thursday, especially around the greens. I didn’t trust my chipping of the ball. I didn’t trust my bunker play. “And I worked very hard on that this weekend, to be honest with you, and my comfort level increases as the days went on. I didn’t strike the ball any better, I just cleaned up better. I chipped and putted better, and that’s what you’ve got to do around this course. You have got to be accepting that you’re going to hit it out of position now.” In assessing how he had reacted to the negative vibes from the first round to transforming his championship with a career-best 68 yesterday, McDowell said: “I guess it probably reminds me that I need to be more patient with myself. I came off the course on

Thursday and could have done with 10 minutes to try and let the fog clear, because I had just bogeyed the last couple of holes and I played so negatively, and that frustrates me because I had no chance with the attitude I had that day. I am more disappointed with myself when that attitude is wrong. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday I was a little better.”

As for McIlroy? “Rory is not used to being out of contention,” said McDowell, adding: “It’s been six months since he’s been out of the top five. He had the wind knocked out of his sails [on Saturday]; it is a hard game when the adrenaline leaves the body, when the desire to perform leaves. It is interesting how the score can escalate . . . Rory looked like a man who couldn’t wait to get out of here this year, but he will be back. He is tailor-made for this golf course.”