Twenty-four hours earlier, the Northern Irishman had looked poised to blow the field away after opening up a significant advantage with the biggest 36-hole lead in the tournament’s history.

While all of his rivals were going under par – the nine players immediately below him all shot sub-70 rounds – the world number two could record only a one-over 71 having come unstuck at Amen Corner.

The troubles off the tee which he has been successfully managing all week cost him dearly and he immediately retired to the range to find a fix ahead of his final-group pairing with Cameron Young, who shot a Masters-best 65, on 11 under.

“The course was obviously gettable, there was a lot of good scores out there, and the quality of the chasing pack is obvious,” said McIlroy.

“There’s a lot of guys in with a chance tomorrow. I’m still tied for the best score going into tomorrow, so I can’t forget that, but I do know I’m going to have to be better if I want to have a chance to win.

“I’m in the final group. I just need to go to the range and try to figure it out a little bit.”

McIlroy entered Augusta National’s famously tricky Amen Corner stretch at 13 under, three ahead but clinging on.

He exited it one behind Young after playing it double bogey-bogey-par having pulled a seven iron into the water at the 11th, missing the green at the next and driving into the trees at the 13th.

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“When you’re not quite feeling it, you struggle. You have to dig deep and I felt like I did that on the front nine and made a lot of good par saves,” he added.

“I missed a couple of chances on eight and nine and then I thought I turned the round around with the birdie on 10.

“I felt like I hit a pretty good second shot on 11 but it just drifted on the wind a little bit and went in the water. Those two holes (11 and 12) weren’t great.

“But again I felt like I bounced back pretty well with the birdies on 14 and 15. It would have been nice to play those last few holes and not make that bogey on 17 but, you know, I still have a great chance.”