Phil Mickelson has admitted that his chances of winning a fourth Masters fell away when he triple bogeyed the fourth hole at Augusta.
Mickelson went into the final round just one shot off the lead and was widely considered to be the tournament favourite after his first three rounds kept him very much in contention.
However, a horror hole for the left-hander, in which he was twice forced to hack at the ball right-handed in the undergrowth before finally finding a way out, all but ended the popular American's chances.
"That's where it went away," he said. "I don't know what else I could have done differently - I had to be left of the pin to have a chance of par but then I hit a railing.
"I had other chances and I birdied the three par fives but I wasn't able to catch up. I didn't feel that I made many mistakes but I just didn't make anything happen.
"It was fun having a chance. I needed to birdie the last two holes and couldn't quite do it. But it was fun."
Bubba Watson went on to win the green jacket after a dramatic play-off against Louis Oosthuizen.
Barney Corkhill
