Ian Poulter gave his confidence another shot in the arm with a closing round of 64 at the WGC-CA Championship in Miami.

With no chance of winning when he resumed joint 62nd of the 68-strong field, the World Match Play champion opened with a 54-foot eagle putt and then had seven birdies, the same as Rory McIlroy had all week.

Poulter, who nearly pulled out before the start on Thursday because of a neck strain, has only twice scored lower on the US Tour.

"I'd struggled all week but today I came out, felt good and was hitting it 20 yards further, maybe 30," said the world number five after the low round of the tournament.

"It was frustrating to get the start I did, but I feel my golf game is in shape and I can prepare for The Masters the best I've ever prepared."

Even at two under par, however, he was still 10 adrift of South Africans Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel, who resumed one ahead of Padraig Harrington.

Poulter plays this coming week in Tampa, then has the two-day Tavistock Cup - nobody knows yet whether that will be Tiger Woods' comeback event - and then two weeks off before the first major of the season.

McIlroy is spending the next three days at Augusta after finishing a desperately disappointing week with a third successive 73 and a seven-over total.

Only England's Oliver Wilson and Australian Michael Sim ended up below the 20-year-old.

McIlroy has been battling the recurrence of a back problem for the last six weeks, but at least that was better in his final round.

He then headed off to see the Miami Heat basketball team for the second time in three days and joked: "It's about the only thing that's making me smile.

"I just didn't have it and haven't had it for the last couple of weeks. I've a few issues to sort out when I get home.

"The back isn't worrying me, but it's getting me down."

He intends to ease off on the physio work, at least for a while, adding: "Half of it is probably mental. I'm starting off in a negative mood."

Despite his finishing position, Wilson gave his spirits a badly-needed lift with a closing 67, and did it in little more than two and a half hours.

In his last competitive round before The Masters, Wilson improved from 13 over to eight over and avoided finishing last after collecting seven birdies in the first 12 holes, the same number he had in a miserable first three rounds.

"It was carefree golf at its absolute best," he said. "My short game has been pathetic this week and I just hit a lot more greens today.

"Embarrassed is not too strong a word. It was just of those weeks. I got sidetracked working on things that are already good."

Els drew first blood against the head on the first. He was bunkered, but splashed out to four feet and made it for birdie, whereas Schwartzel was on in two and three-putted, missing from three feet.

The 25-year-old came back with a 23-footer on the next, though, and they were two clear of Harrington, who parred the first three, and Australian Robert Allenby.

Paul Casey parred the opening five and was six back in a tie for 10th.

Els regained the edge with birdie putts of nine and eight feet at the third and fourth and when Schwartzel failed to get up and down from sand on the next the gap was three.

Harrington was up into a tie for second both as a result of that and his own pitch to three feet on the fifth, while Allenby was one shot further back in fourth.