What Rory McIlroy’s caddie is predicted to be doing ahead of the final round of The Masters after his lead slips

Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images

Saturday at The Masters 12 months ago was the day that Rory McIlroy took charge of the event and put himself in a fantastic position to go on and win.

Unfortunately for McIlroy, his third round at Augusta National this time around has completely opened the door for the chasing pack to close the gap.

He is level with Cameron Young going into the final round. There are another nine players within five shots of the lead with 18 holes to play at the first major of the year.

What Harry Diamond has been tipped to tell Rory McIlroy ahead of the final round of The Masters

It was a big surprise to see McIlroy go backwards on moving day. He appeared to have one arm back in the Green Jacket he finally won 12 months ago.

Of course, McIlroy is no stranger to being in that position. He boasted a commanding lead as he made the turn on Sunday this time last year. However, he went on to do everything he could to throw his victory away.

His caddie Harry Diamond played an important role in preparing him for the playoff by insisting that they would have taken being in that position at the start of the week.

Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images

And speaking on Sky Sports, Andrew Coltart insisted that the message from Diamond this time around should be very similar.

“I would expect that [him to bounce back]. I think he is yet to show the quality golf that we have come to expect from McIlroy. It has been a bit lacklustre this season but he steps up for the majors. Today’s 73 will be a big disappointment for him,” he said.

“Harry will be in his ear and he’ll be saying ‘you’d have taken this position coming in here this week, last group on Sunday, let’s go’.

“He will be pretty resilient and be desperate to get back out there and prove that today was a bad day and he is the master.”

McIlroy issued with a reminder that no one truly masters Augusta National

McIlroy was in a unique position heading down Magnolia Lane this year. It was the first time in his career where he had arrived at Augusta National without worrying about the burden of whether he would ever win.

The first two rounds suggested that he was going to be completely freed up by that victory. We were about to finally find out just how good McIlroy could be at The Masters.

Saturday dispelled the theory that McIlroy had figured out Augusta National and was set to comfortably dominate the event for years to come, as Rich Beem went on to explain.

“Nothing has changed even though he won The Masters last year, nothing has changed about his desire to win and win the tournaments that mean the most to him. This is right up there,” he said.

“He has been on his back so many times and it’s like he just pops back up like nothing ever happened.

“He has such a great mindset to forget what happened the day before or even a few holes before. He is not afraid to fail.

“He has failed a lot in his career, he has hit some horrible shots but he comes back time and time again. That’s why he is our defending champion and has the career Grand Slam.”

After last year, no one should have been surprised by anything that happens to McIlroy within the Georgia pines.

Nevertheless, his performance in the third round came as a big shock. It has set up a mouthwatering Sunday – once again.