Two bogeys in the final three holes extinguished any remaining flicker of hope for the Northern Irishman, who needs a Masters title to become the sixth player to complete the modern grand slam of all four majors.
McIlroy showed flashes of brilliance, including an eagle at the par-five second, but a four-under-par 68 in benign conditions was not nearly good enough to lift him into contention at Augusta National.
“I'm going to need something basically around 61, 62 to have a real chance. I'm not sure that's going to happen but we'll see,” the world number one told reporters after ending the day at six-under 210, a distant 10 strokes behind leader Jordan Spieth.
“Overall felt like I played pretty well; just a little disappointed the way I finished.”
McIlroy, who will play the final round with Tiger Woods, also enjoyed a star-studded pairing on Saturday when he played with defending champion Bubba Watson.
They put on a dazzling display of power off the tee that certainly impressed One Direction boyband member Niall Horan.
Horan, who caddied for McIlroy in the par-3 contest on Wednesday, followed his friend in the company of McIlroy’s father Gerry.
Both players started the day 12 strokes behind overnight leader Jordan Spieth, but Watson’s hopes of winning a third green jacket effectively ended with a triple-bogey at the par-four first hole.
Watson pitched his third shot over a greenside bunker, but his ball narrowly failed to clear the sand and plugged in the face, just below the lip.
“It came out soft, I wouldn’t say muddy, but the divot came pretty quick,” Watson said.
After pondering his limited options, he decided to chop his fourth shot backwards into the bottom of the bunker.
He ended up shooting a roller coaster 73 that included only five pars.
(Editing by Gene Cherry/Steve Keating.)
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