If it makes Justin Rose feel any better, the great Lee Trevino led the Masters - the only major he never won - after two rounds in 1989 and then shot 81.

He played in it only twice more and never had another chance.

But Rose will be praying for many more opportunities after 'Thrilling Thursday' and 'Fantastic Friday' were followed by 'Suffering Saturday'.

From two in front, the 23-year-old fell 19 places and nine shots behind with a nightmare 81 which started with three successive bogeys and included six more over the next 12 holes.

Rose, who described himself "shell-shocked" by the experience, came back with a 71 on Sunday and commented: "It was a rollercoaster week, but all in all a good week. I learnt a lot.

"The third round cost me winning a major, but maybe you have to a lead a couple before you can win one.

"It was embarrassing enough to shoot 81, but I got a couple of comments about how I handled it and that was nice."

Asked if he had kicked a wall or anything when he was in private, though, he replied: "No, just the girlfriend a couple of times! It was almost so bad you had to smile.

"I hit the ball beautifully on the range. I just got off to a bad, bad start and every little minor mistake got punished.

"That's obviously what Augusta is all about. It bit back in a large way.

"I tried my best all day and it was just frustrating. I just tried to grind it out, but hard as I tried I couldn't turn it around. I tried on every single shot.

"It was tough. My good putts didn't go in, my good shots didn't get rewarded. Every break seemed to go against me.

"It hurts because I was thinking I was playing well enough to win, so that's a shame. But at the age of 23 it's not the end of the world. It was always going to be a great learning experience."

But he had discovered for himself what Australian Stuart Appleby meant when he likened the course to an untrained dog.

"You walk up to it and think it's so pretty and you are all friendly with it," said Appleby. "The next minute it takes your arm off.

"You've just got to try and befriend it, stay away from its bite and work with it."

For two days Rose cuddled up. But Augusta was not ready to be his best friend just yet.

And, if it also makes him feel better, Rose will have noted he was not alone in coming to grief.

Playing partner Alex Cejka triple-bogeyed the last hole for a 78 and twice winner Jose Maria Olazabal, with whom Cejka shared second spot at halfway, crashed to a 79.

The three leaders were therefore a combined 22 over par. But "coming to grief" is putting it too strongly. Olazabal was crippled nine years ago and Rose lost his father to leukaemia two years ago.

They know Saturday was just a bad day at the office and they will be hoping for many more good ones.