Water waste for McIlroy

RORY McILROY suffered that sinking feeling yet again at the Shell Houston Open, before ending the tournament on a rare high note.

His erratic form heading into next week’s Masters was summed up with a roller-coaster ride in the fourth round in Texas.
An encouraging start, which brought him birdies at the eighth and ninth holes to complete a bogey-free front nine, suddenly turned sour.
He put his approach to the 11th into a lake — and his attempt to drive the green at the 338-yard 12th also ended up in the water.
But he walked off feeling better about his game after birdies at the 17th and 18th, two of the toughest finishing holes on the US Tour.
His inconsistency shows it was wise to add this week’s Valero Texas Open in San Antonio to his pre-Augusta schedule.
McIlroy eventually signed for a two-under-par 70 in Houston, and finished four under for the week.
But he failed to break 70 in any of the four rounds, scraped through to the weekend right on the cut line, and never threatened to challenge for the win he needed to reclaim the world No 1 spot from Tiger Woods.
Victory in San Antonio would see him head to Augusta on top of the world again — but he will need to leave his current form way behind to give himself a much-needed confidence boost.