First McIlroy loses Masters, next, his clubs

(GETTY IMAGES)

Rory McIlroy is not having a week to remember. As he struggles to get over his disastrous final-round 80 in Augusta on Sunday he arrived in Kuala Lumpur – after sharing a flight with Charl Schwartzel – for today's Malaysian Open only to discover his clubs had not.

"It's one of these things," said McIlroy. "Going through so many time zones and so many connecting flights your bags are going to get lost sometimes."

The 21-year-old insists he has learned lessons from the Masters that will help him in future. He said: "It is very hard to keep yourself in the present and not think about winning or putting on that green jacket or walking up the last with a two or three-shot lead.

"You need to keep that out of your mind. I did that for the most part. If I was giving advice I'd say don't read newspapers, don't look at the TV or anything like that.

"It's easy to say 'he's got a four-shot lead and if he keeps doing what he is doing he'll win', but it is a lot easier said than done.

"My advice would be almost put yourself in a bubble and don't let outside factors influence anything, whether that be newspaper articles, TV or anything."

Schwartzel is also in action today, as are Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and Martin Kaymer.