Rory McIlroy unable to make up ground

Some hits you take on the chin, which is what Rory McIlroy did with some dignity in his third round of the Masters. The Ulsterman finished birdie-birdie which salvaged a 71 to move him to 219, three over par, at the 54-hole stage but a distant pursuer of Bubba Watson atop the leader board.

McIlroy was outplayed by his amateur playing partner Jeff Knox, a 53-year-old businessman who is a member of Augusta National, and was gracious afterwards in acknowledging his marker's know-how. "He obviously knows this place so well and gets it round. I don't think I've ever seen anyone putt the greens as well as he does around here. He was really impressive. I was thinking of maybe getting him to read a few of my putts out there," he admitted.

As it was, in perfect conditions on a gloriously sunny day, McIlroy’s bid to get out early and make a move failed to materialise. The damage from his third round 77 - when he had to roll in a four-footer for par to make the cut - left him with too much ground to make up and he was actually over par for his round standing on the 15th tee.

However, a late run of birdies - on the 15th, 17th, where he holed a 30-footer, and the 18th - at least gave him some momentum to take into the final round with an eye already moving ahead to his next tournament outing, in the Wells Fargo championship at Quail Hollow.

For now, it’s a case of reassessing his goals for the final round. “My best finish here is 15th, which isn’t really anything to shout about, so it would be nice to play well tomorrow, shoot something in the mid to high 60s and maybe finish the week in red figures.

“I think a good goal would be to have my best finish ever at Augusta and go from there. It wouldn’t be the week that I would have wanted from the start, but the way the last two days have went it wouldn’t be a bad way to finish the week.”