Rory McIlroy's chances of a Masters victory evaporated at Augusta on Saturday as he slumped to seven-over-par 79.
McIlroy: Horror back-nine performance
The World No 2 was only three shots off the lead after he birdied the third, but a bogey at the seventh would turn out to be the start of a horror run.
He would drop another stroke at the ninth before a short-iron approach shot found the water at 11 and led to a triple-bogey.
He found the water again at 15 to card another seven, before another bogey at 16 dropped him down to five over par and completely out of contention.
"It's disappointing, especially after such a good start, said McIlroy, who needed 42 shots on the back nine.
"I was only a few off the lead going into seventh hole and then all of a sudden I play seven through 11 in five over par and basically my chances in the tournament are gone.
"So it's very disappointing. I feel like I was playing well and feel like I have been playing well coming in here. It's just a frustrating day.
"The wind switched on me at 11. It comes up short in the water and I take seven there. And I never recovered from that.
"The same sort of thing happened on 15. I felt like I hit a good second shot in, the wind gusts back into me, it pitches on the green, but it comes back in the water.
"The margins are very small on this course and when you get on the wrong side of some of these slopes, you can't help but get a penalty. A couple of missed shots here and there and I was done in on 11 and 15.
"I feel like I played smart enough. I'm playing it the way I know you should play it. I'm not taking too much on, I'm not being too defensive.
"I feel like my strategy's right, it's just sometimes if your execution is just that little bit off you pay a big price for it."
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