Golf

The putter was not the best of friends to Rory McIlroy during the opening stages of the final round of the 2026 Masters.McIlroy, who began Sunday's final round tied for the lead alongside Cameron Young, missed very makable birdie putts on both the first and second holes. Missing out on some birdie opportunities is expected — it's part of the game — but what unfolded on the green on the Par 3 fourth hole was inexplicable.READ: Sergio Garcia Turns Back The Clock, Destroys A Teebox And His Driver At The MastersAfter hitting a very solid chip shot to give himself an opportunity to save par from nine feet, McIlroy ran his par putt a little more than two feet past the hole. Given the moment and the fact that there are no routine two-footers on the greens of Augusta National, he opted to throw a mark on his ball and regroup.It didn't help his cause. McIlroy was dealt a nasty lip-out with his bogey attempt, and walked off the green with a double bogey. It dropped him to 10-under for the tournament, and two shots back of Young who managed to get up and down for par on the very difficult Par 3.McIlroy had a well-below-average day on the greens during Saturday's third round on his way to a 1-over round of 73 that saw his six-shot lead after 36 holes evaporate.While the old mantra of "the Masters doesn’t begin until the back nine on Sunday" appears to be alive and well in the 90th edition of the Masters, we could look back at McIlroy's nightmare on the fourth green as the turning point of the tournament.