US MASTERS FINAL ROUND:THE CHOSEN ones always save the best 'til last, and so it was with Rory McIlroy. Yesterday, his first US Masters completed, the 19-year-old Ulsterman gave us an insight into the future. Five birdies in an error-free back nine in the final round – home in 31 strokes – had a smile back on his face, and the steps out of the recorder's hut behind the 18th green seemed even jauntier than usual.

In finishing with 70 for 286, two under par, McIlroy had proved just why it was so important to be around for the weekend. The controversy over a possible rules infringement in a bunker on the 18th on Friday night seemed to be a million miles away. His humour was closer to home. Asked what he’d take from his rookie Masters, he quipped, “I’ve learnt not to dance in the bunkers.”

That put an end to that particular matter.

His play over the weekend – two sub-par rounds, a 71 on Saturday and 70 yesterday – provided the downward trend in scoring that simply confirmed to anyone watching that McIlroy has the game and patience for Augusta.

You doubt his patience? Yesterday, having turned in three-over for the day, McIlroy contrived to produce birdies at the 11th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th with not a bogey or dropped shot in sight. Oh, how he would love to have turned the clock back to his finish in Friday’s third round, when he four-putted the 16th for double bogey and ran up a triple bogey on the last.

“I don’t think I had mental errors (on Friday). I just hit a couple of bad strokes on 16,” said McIlroy. “Then, on 18, I was probably trying to be a bit too cute, trying to be the hero. I should have pitched to 10 feet and taken my chances. If I was in that position again, I’d probably do it a little bit differently.”

But, then, that’s all part of garnering experience. “It was a good first Masters for me. Sure, I was hoping to do a little bit better and hopefully I’ll be better in the final three majors this year. But I’ve got to know the course a bit better.

“It’s all part of the learning curve, isn’t it? If I get into that position again, I will know what to do.

“I don’t see the course as being difficult. But it is tricky. If you just miss the right spot by a couple of yards you’re 40 or 50 feet away. However, if you’re on your game, there’s a low one out there.

“I have got to know the course so much better and, when I come back next year, I will know it and know the influences on the greens. Every year you learn a little more about the course. As I said, I have learnt not to dance in the bunker. It has been a great week and I am looking forward to next year.”

Graeme McDowell finished as leading Irish player, bookending a pair of 73s with two 69s. Yesterday’s 69, for four-under-par 284, secured him a top-20 finish. In producing six birdies and a bogey and a double bogey, the Northerner – who had a run of five successive threes on his front nine, from the third – left with a belief that he can improve further on his next visit.

McDowell’s double-bogey came on the 12th, where his tee-shot overshot the green. “I hit the wrong club. Call it player error, caddie error. Whatever. I tried to hit a hard eight-iron when I should have hit nine-iron . . . but I was pleased with how I responded, birdieing the 13th, 14th and 15th. That was sweet,” he said.

Pádraig Harrington’s quest for the Paddy Slam – or, as at least one American newspaper referred to it yesterday, the “Paddy Melt” – effectively came to an end in his third round on Saturday. Less than 20 minutes into the round, traditionally known as moving day, he moved backwards with a quadruple bogey nine on the second hole. His quest for a third straight major ended in that snap-hook.

The nine was run up with all the ease of spreading soft butter. Having found his ball among the pine trees, he tried to play the shot, only for the ball to ricochet off a tree into an azalea bush. He had to take a penalty drop, and then proceeded to hit the same tree with his next shot and the ball ended up in a ditch.

He played his fifth shot out just short of the fairway, and his approach – his sixth shot – finished short of the green. A chip and two putts later, he was marking down a nine. If it was any consolation to Harrington, that number fell one short of the record 10 chalked up on two occasions: by Sam Byrd in 1948 and David Duval in 2006.

Afterwards, Harrington’s demeanour was that of a politician making a concession speech. “These things happen, it’s a ‘so be it’ kind of thing . . . it’s not to be.”

You’d have thought the course had inflicted sufficient misery on Harrington, as he set about his final round in glorious sunshine. Not a bit of it. As if to rub salt into his wounds, Harrington ran up a triple-bogey seven on the ninth yesterday after he pulled his drive into the trees. The ball was never seen again, and the player had to troop back to the tee to reload.

Yet, as if to prove the course gives and takes, Harrington was to follow that double-bogey with an eagle on the 13th on his way to a 73 for 288, level par.