Rory McIlroy was keen to focus on the positives after posting three successive rounds in the sixties on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to finish in a share of fifth place at the 2020 Masters Tournament.
The four time Major Champion came into the week hoping to secure the victory he needs at Augusta National Golf Club to complete the career grand slam.
But his chances of doing so suffered a severe blow in a weather affected first round, when he shot 75 - his worst opening round score in 12 starts at the Masters.
The Northern Irishman had sat on level par when the delayed first round resumed on Friday morning but covered the back nine in three over par to drop out of contention.
McIlroy bounced back brilliantly, with rounds of 66 and 67 taking him within eight shots of leader Dustin Johnson ahead of Sunday's final round.
And after making three birdies on the front nine in his final round, the European Ryder Cup star found himself just four back and in with a slim chance of catching the American.
Johnson would go on to claim a thumping five shot victory with a record winning score of 20 under par, though, with McIlroy finishing nine shots back, but he was pleased with his performance over the final 54 holes.
McIlroy, who will not have long to wait for his next chance to win at Augusta as the tournament returns to its usual April slot next year, said: "The first day I actually did OK - I was level par.
"Level par through nine here is not that bad, and then just that second morning I just didn't quite have it.
"I guess I need to take the positives, I played the last 54 really well and only made two bogeys in that 54 hole stretch, which is probably the best run of golf I've played here."
McIlroy started brightly on Sunday, making his first birdie from three feet on the third hole before sending his tee shot to 18 feet on the par three sixth and knocking in the birdie putt.
Another gain at the eighth put McIlroy within three of Johnson but a bogey at the start of the back nine saw him slip off the pace.
McIlroy would pick up another shot at the par five 13th but he could not hunt Johnson down.
Rory finishes at 11 under par✍️#TheMasters pic.twitter.com/ST1jSTwUBn
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) November 15, 2020
"When I birdied the eighth hole and I got to 11 under, I saw DJ had dropped to 15 and I thought, maybe there's a chance," added McIlroy.
"But then the wind sort of got up as we hit the turn, and it was hard to make birdies.
"I made that birdie on the 13th and sort of just had to hang on at the 10th, 11th and 12th.
"It was that stretch where I was thinking, OK, if I can get one out of these, birdie 13, birdie 15, maybe pick up a couple more...
"Yeah, I mean, Dustin is just playing such solid golf. It was probably wishful thinking on my part on the eighth green.
"But yeah, I hung in there until the end and tried and put up another score in the 60s in pretty tricky conditions."
