Shane Lowry backs Rory McIlroy to recover from Masters misery and win grand slam

McIlroy struggled to a hugely disappointing second round of 77 at Augusta National and declined to speak to waiting reporters.

The pre-tournament joint favourite was three shots outside the projected cut when he signed his card shortly before a 21-minute suspension in play due to the threat of lightning.

And although more bad weather made scoring difficult on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, McIlroy eventually missed the cut by two.

McIlroy, who had been backed by Tiger Woods earlier in the week to “definitely” win the Masters at some point in his career, had been on what proved to be the cut mark when he birdied the 13th and 15th, only to drop shots on two of the last three holes.

“To be honest I felt like he was going to have a good week this week,” Lowry said after completing his third round.

“I spent a lot of time with him over the last couple of weeks but that’s golf. A lot of times you don’t get what you deserve.

“It’s obviously been very tough for him. I’ll catch up with him next week. I’m sure he’ll get over it. I’m sure he’s fine.”

Lowry and McIlroy are both in the field for next week’s RBC Heritage event in Hilton Head, South Carolina.