Nick Faldo still believes in Rory McIlroy after watching every shot of a Masters nightmare that inevitably turned his own mind back 15 years.

McIlroy's closing round of 80 at Augusta, which sent him crashing from four shots clear to 10 shots behind winner Charl Schwartzel, had everybody thinking of Greg Norman.

And Faldo, of course, was the beneficiary at the same venue in 1996 when Norman crashed to a 78 and went from six ahead to five behind.

The Australian never won another major, but he was 41 at the time. McIlroy is 21.

"He's young and I am sure he will regroup and come back stronger," said Faldo, now a commentator on American television.

"He was thrown in at the deep end and this is a serious deep end. You are there on your own, things get out of sync and you lose your tempo."

It took England's former world number one until the day after his 30th birthday to land the first of his six majors - and that came after he had finished in the top 12 of the Open no fewer than seven times in the previous nine years.

McIlroy is already amassing his own such list in the majors and this was not his first big disappointment.

At the Open last July, of course, he followed a first-round 63 with another 80 and a month later in the US PGA Championship he missed out on the play-off by one shot after bogeying the 15th and missing a birdie chance at the last.

"I'll have plenty more chances, I know, and hopefully it will build a bit of character in me as well," he said.

"I don't think I can put it down to anything else than part of the learning curve.

"Hopefully if I can get myself back into this position pretty soon I will handle it a little bit better.

"It will be pretty tough for me for the next few days, but I will get over it - I will be fine.

"There are a lot worse things that can happen in your life. Shooting a bad score in the last round of a golf tournament is nothing in comparison to what other people go through.

"I can't really put my finger on what went wrong. I lost a lot of confidence with my putting, but I just hit a poor tee shot on 10 and sort of unravelled from there."

The Northern Ireland youngster, still one ahead at the time, started the back nine with a triple-bogey seven, three-putted the 11th, four-putted the 12th and after saving par from Rae's Creek at the long next, ran up a six on the 15th.

"Getting applauded up onto the greens, I was almost a little embarrassed at some points. But the support I had here was fantastic and I really appreciate it."

Norman himself has revealed empathising with McIlroy, saying he knows what the youngster must be going through.

"I knew exactly how he felt - I've experienced it," the Australian told the PGA Tour website.

"What is it with golf destiny?" he added. " Isn't it strange? It taps you on the back of your head and it either pushes you ahead or pushes you back. Who determines that? It's crazy."

Just to rub in his misery almost, McIlroy had stablemate Schwartzel as a flying companion as he headed to this week's Malaysian Open.

Although the 26-year-old South African has long been thought of a star in the making himself - he got his European Tour card nine years ago - this was only his second Masters and he had never previously finished in the top 10 of any major.

Schwartzel's 66 was the low score of the day - and he might never play a more dramatic round.

He chipped in at the first, pitched in from 114 yards for an eagle two at the third and then birdied the last four holes to beat Australians Adam Scott and Jason Day by two.

While celebrating his own breakthrough he empathised with McIlroy.

"It's difficult - what do you say? He's such a phenomenal player and the way he played the first three rounds you have to think that a win is not that far away," he said.

"Golf is a really funny game. One moment you're on top of it and the next it bites you."

Andrew "Chubby" Chandler, manager to both of them and a former European Tour player, insists he does not worry about McIlroy's future.

"He knows there's a problem, but it's not an insolvable problem," he said. "It's just learning and he's a smart lad."

"It was such an exciting day," said Schwartzel, reflecting on a final round that saw the lead change hands no fewer than 15 times.

"There were so many roars and the atmosphere was just incredible. It was just a phenomenal day - I was getting tight coming down the 15th and I needed to do something."

A front nine 37 was bad enough for McIlroy, but such was his overnight advantage that he was still leading as he entered the famed inward half and endured horror upon horror.

First a triple bogey seven on the 10th, where his hooked drive hit a tree and rebounded in between the cabins way left of the fairway and not far from the tee.

He needed a wood for his third, went left again and then hit another tree with his pitch.

Even with a bogey on the next he was still in it, but that was his first three-putt and at the short 12th, his mind seemingly scrambled, he four-putted for a double bogey and dropped another at the long 15th.

"I hit a poor tee shot on 10 and sort of unravelled from there," he said, still looking shell-shocked minutes after signing a card he wished could be thrown away.

"I'm very disappointed at the minute and I'm sure I will be for the next few days, but I've got to take the positives - I was leading for 63 holes.

"I will have plenty more chances I know and hopefully it will build a bit of character in me as well.

"I can't really put my finger on it, but I lost a lot of confidence with my putting."

For three days it had looked like McIlroy would becomes a major champion at a younger age than some of the greats of the game.

Although Woods got there before him - by only eight months - Jack Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros were a year older when they broke through, Gary Player 23, Tom Watson 25, Arnold Palmer 28, Faldo and Sam Snead 30 and Ben Hogan 34.

Now McIlroy must try again and the world will wait to see what damage this has done to the Northern Ireland player labelled a boy wonder almost from the day he first picked up a club.

Woods and Ogilvy threatened to stage the third biggest comeback in Masters history as they charged from seven back.

It was Woods - still without a victory for 17 months and now 21 events, of course - who first took the noise level up several notches.

He birdied the second and third and then came back from a three-putt bogey at the short fourth with further birdies at the sixth and seventh and then a 10-foot eagle putt after two marvellous shots into the uphill 570-yard eighth.

A miraculous par save from pine straw and then a bunker at the ninth meant the opportunity was there for him to end his drought.

But it was not to be. He three-putted again on the 12th, missing only from three feet, and missed a four-putt eagle effort he desperately needed three holes later.

Ogilvy joined him with a brilliant five successive birdies from the 12th and two closing putts, and then Donald chipped in at the last for 10 under as well - and that after hitting the flagstick with his approach from the edge of the fairway bunker.

No winner of Wednesday's par three competition has gone on to take the main event four days later and Donald failed to end the jinx as he hoped.

Going in the water for a double bogey at the 12th when he was two behind was what he called the "killer blow," adding: "It was probably my one bad swing - a push with a nine-iron and I paid the penalty.

"I dug deep (with birdies at the 13th, 15th and 16th), but unfortunately I've come up short."

Argentina's 2009 winner Angel Cabrera and Korean KJ Choi held a share of top spot, but made costly mistakes.

So attention focused on the battle between Scott, Schwartzel and Day.

Scott led on his own when he birdied the 14th and a tee shot to 18 inches at the 16th moved him closer to becoming Australia's first winner.

But while playing partner Day closed with two birdies, Scott parred them and well though he had played for a 67 - Day shot 68 - it was not enough.

So Schwartzel, a stablemate of McIlroy, proved to be the one who gave European Tour members their first-ever clean sweep of the majors.

And instead of Northern Ireland having two of the current four major champions it is South Africa. Louis Oosthuizen, of course, took The Open last summer.