Everything Rory McIlroy said on day four of Masters as Augusta agony continues

Rory McIlroy completed the 2024 Masters with a one-over-par 73 to finish the tournament on four over.

It means the Holywood man’s quest for that elusive green jacket continues, with the 34-year-old’s tied-for-23rd finish also denying him the chance of add to his impressive seven top-10 finishes around Augusta.

His final round included four bogeys and just three birdies, with McIlroy’s Sunday getting off to a bad start with a bogey at the first. He then three-putted on the second, when he had a fantastic chance of eaglng the par-five hole following a superb approach shot.

Further frustrations followed as the Ulsterman once again struggled with his putter to compound a forgettable week in Georgia.

Next up is Hilton Head on Thursday for the latest PGA Tour event. In the meantime, here’s what McIlroy had to say as his wait for Masters glory goes on.

Q. Rory, can you give us your reflections on today and your Masters week?

McIlroy: Yeah. I mean, I don't really know what to say. Just sort of felt like my game was okay and managed it pretty well, but, obviously, Friday was a really tough day, and losing five shots sort of put me in a pretty difficult position going into the weekend.

Then the conditions were pretty tough. The greens are crusty and firm and hard to get the ball super close and hard to make a ton of birdies. Once you get seven or eight back going into the weekend here, it's hard to make up that ground.

Q. Can you sum up your disappointment?

McIlroy: I guess it's more the same of what I've shown this year. It's not as if it's been a down week in comparison to the way I've been playing. It's just a matter of me trying to get my game in a bit better shape going towards the rest of the season.

Q. Do you feel like you can get that confidence and momentum back with three majors coming up in quick succession?

McIlroy: I need to take a little bit of time and reflect on this week and what I did well, what I didn't do so well, and sort of try to make a plan for the next few months, especially from here going through obviously to the end of July. As you say, major season, they're going to come thick and fast here, so hopefully get myself in a bit better form for those last three.

Q. Will you scale back a little bit?

McIlroy: No, the next two weeks I'm playing Hilton Head, I'm playing New Orleans. I'll take a week off, playing Quail Hollow, play the PGA, take another week off, then play another four in a row. Loving golf at the moment. Loving it.

Q. Do you feel like you're close?

McIlroy: Yeah, because all these disappointing weeks are 20ths, 25ths. They're not terrible weeks by any stretch, but there's a lot of room for improvement.

I'm close in some ways, but then I feel quite far away in others. It's a bit of a - once I get one thing, sort of put that to bed, then another thing pops up, and it's just one of those at the minute.

Q. What’s missing?

McIlroy: Just a little bit of control, I think, with the ball-striking, especially in those sorts of winds. It really exposes any weaknesses that you may have. That Friday definitely exposed a few things.

As the golf course changes here, you just have to be so precise, and I wasn't quite precise enough this week.

Q. When you talk about reassessing things, is there a way to measure when the time has come for that that's almost analytical as opposed to emotional? How do you determine that?

McIlroy: Yeah, probably not the right time to be analytical at the moment, but I think as well if you're really going to make wholesale changes it's hard to play a lot of golf and make them at the same time. I don't feel like I need to make wholesale changes. That's why I'm playing a lot. But if the time comes that I need to make wholesale changes with my golf swing and really try to reassess, it could be a six-month to a year process. Not saying I wouldn't play any tournaments in that time, but the focus would be on the sort of technical side of things and really not result driven at all. I don't think I'm there yet, but there may come a time where I need to address that and really go back to the drawing board.

But I think right now it's little tweaks here and there and managing my game. I really feel like I can sort of play my way into form here over these next few weeks.