AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A final score of 276 over 72 holes would have won or played off for 12 of the past 13 Masters, a rather unsatisfying bit of knowledge for Rory McIlroy.
Because it didn't win this one.
Not even close, really.
McIlroy closed with an impressive 6-under-par 66 -- playing alongside Tiger Woods -- but his score got him only a fourth-place finish, his best in seven appearances. He was 6 strokes back of Jordan Spieth.
So it's hard to be disappointed, but considering all the hype generated with McIlroy, the result is bittersweet.
"Just left myself too much to do after 27 holes of this golf tournament," he said. "A 40 on the front nine Friday, that really left me with an uphill battle. It was just great to get in for the weekend and made the most of a great finish on Friday.
McIlroy played the last two rounds in 10 under par and was 15 under for the final 45 holes. But Spieth was 10 strokes ahead of him going into the weekend, and it proved to be too much ground to make up.
"I played well. I can take a lot of positives from it," said McIlroy, 25, the No. 1-ranked player in the world. "It is my best finish here. I played the last 45 holes in 15 under par. I did a lot of things I wanted to do. I played the par-5s well." Last year McIlroy played them in just even par and finished 8 strokes behind winner Bubba Watson.
This year he was 14 under on the par-5s, a positive development that wasn't enough to overtake Spieth, who tied Woods' Masters scoring record of 270, 18 under par.
Starting the day 10 strokes back, McIlroy didn't figure to have much of a chance.
"I thought if I could start fast and shoot 64, it might put some sort of pressure on the guys behind, but I didn't start that fast and got going in the middle of the round, but even that wouldn't really matter. Jordan just went out and played, it looks like, a really, really solid round of golf."
McIlroy, who was trying to win a third straight major title and complete the career Grand Slam, will now take a few weeks off before a busy stretch. He is expected to compete in the WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship, followed by the Players Championship, then two European Tour events -- the Irish Open and the BMW PGA Championship, where he is the defending champion. After that, it's the U.S. Open.