the world no 1 finished strongly , but the battle came too late to challenge long-time leader jordan spieth for the green jacket .
the 21-year-old american , who finished in a tie for second in 2014 , held a four-shot lead heading into sunday and never looked in trouble despite the efforts of the chasing pack led all week .
spieth rounded off a record-breaking week by winning the first major of his career with a four-shot victory in the masters at augusta .
mcilroy hit a final round of 66 to finish on 12 under par in fourth place , six shots behind the eventual winner .