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Upbeat McIlroy eyes healing victory

Rory McIlroy believes he will not be scarred by the events at Augusta National on Sunday © Getty Images

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Rory McIlroy is confident he will bounce back from his Masters disappointment, and believes the quickest way to do so would be to put himself in a similar position on Sunday at this week's Malaysian Open.

McIlroy squandered a four-shot lead going into the final round of the year's first major, eventually signing for a round of 80 that was only good enough for a T-15th finish. But despite the disappointment, the Ulsterman anticipates no long-term ill-effects from the traumatic experience.

"The best thing is to get back into contention and finish it off, that would put behind me what happened last week," McIlroy said.

"I feel like I'm playing really well at the minute. It showed for the first three days of Augusta anyway that the game is there. Hopefully, instead of doing it for three days like last week I can do it for four days this week.

"I don't think I need to change anything, just be a little calmer and a little patient on Sunday and hopefully that will be enough."

The 21-year-old was struck with further bad luck on Tuesday, however, as his clubs failed to arrive in Kuala Lumpur at the same time as their owner.

"It hasn't happened often, it's one of these things you can't help, going through so many timezones and so many connecting flights your bags are going to get lost sometimes," McIlroy said. "Hopefully they turn up tonight [Wednesday] and I'll be ready to go tomorrow."

McIlroy flew to the event alongside eventual Masters winner Charl Schwartzel, as both men share the same agent. Despite spending so long in close proximity to the green jacket he could have won, McIlroy - who tweeted a picture of himself with the beaming South African to his followers on Twitter - stressed it was not a difficult journey.

"It was fine," he smiled. "I've known Charl a long time and I'm happy for him, genuinely, he played great on Sunday. To go out and shoot 66 on the final day of the Masters to win was a great performance."

Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington believes the youngster deserves great credit for the way he has handled his current disappointment - suggesting Tiger Woods might actually have more regrets after failing to win on Sunday.

"Rory did incredibly well afterwards," Harrington told the Irish Independent. "In a week's time, he'll have had time to reflect, but his attitude so soon after walking off the 18th green on Sunday was fantastic and augurs well for his future.

"He'll come through this. Rory has proved many times he's capable of winning these things, but I think even more so after Sunday. He'll win plenty of Majors going forward.

"[Woods] is always going to have a great chance at Augusta and he had it again. If he looks back at this week, Tiger will see this as one that got away."

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