Rory McIlroy still searching for that 'free-wheeling' golf after frustrating week at the Masters

After a Masters tournament where he was never in contention, Rory McIlroy alluded to the conundrum as to where his game is at the moment, highlighting the difficulty in getting the "good golf" out of himself.

McIlroy carded a closing 73 to finish in a tie for 22nd on his 10th attempt to complete the career grand slam. This followed on from rounds of 71, 77 and 71. Assessing his week at the opening major of the year, the Co Down golfer told RTÉ Sport's Greg Allen: "If I break it down by rounds I had a pretty solid round on Thursday.

"We then played in the heaviest of the winds on Friday and it was tough; I just kept my head above water that day and ended up happy to have a tee-time for Saturday.

"I played OK on Saturday but not good enough to get myself back in contention. Today, look the golf course is tough, a tough course to shoot low on which I needed to do to try and get myself back in it."

What's frustrating McIlroy is that he feels his 'A game' is close, but at the moment, in some respects, it feels far away.

Expanding on that, he added: "I feel I'll play the worst golf I can play and finish 20th but getting the good golf out of myself is a little bit more difficult at the minute than it has been before. My bad golf is good enough to come here, finish 20th, and that's an average week. I need to figure out a way to get my best free-wheeling golf out of me, especially in these weeks.

For Shane Lowry, it was a case of accentuating the positives after a final round 74 saw him finish on eight over in a tie for 46th.

In the previous two years, Lowry was tied third and 16th respectively, yet he seemed more content after completing his ninth Masters appearance.

Also speaking to RTÉ Sport, he said: "I'm probably more disappointed