Rory McIlroy has admitted he is going to find it difficult to forget his Masters meltdown – and having to share a 10,000-mile, 20-hour flight with the new champion Charl Schwartzel may make it that bit harder.

McIlroy, at a loss to fully explain his worst-ever day in golf, and Schwartzel, overjoyed after the best round of his life, were scheduled on the same Monday flight from Georgia to Kuala Lumpur, where the Malaysian Open begins later this week.

McIlroy slumped from four ahead going into the final round to 10 shots behind and joint 15th place with an eight-over-par 80 as Schwartzel won the green jacket for the first time.

"I was still one shot ahead going into the 10th and then things went all pear-shaped after that," said the 21-year-old Northern Irishman, who triple-bogeyed the 10th, three-putted the 11th, four-putted the 12th and bogeyed the long 15th.

"It was a very disappointing day obviously. But hopefully I'll learn from it and come back a little stronger. I don't think I can put it down to anything else than part of the learning curve. Hopefully if I can get myself back into this position pretty soon I will handle it a little bit better.

"It will be pretty tough for me for the next few days, but I will get over it – I will be fine. There are a lot worse things that can happen in your life. Shooting a bad score in the last round of a golf tournament is nothing in comparison to what other people go through.

"I can't really put my finger on what went wrong. I lost a lot of confidence with my putting, but I just hit a poor tee shot on 10 and sort of unravelled from there. I'll have plenty more chances I know and hopefully it will build a bit of character in me as well.

"Getting applauded up on to the greens, I was almost a little embarrassed at some points. But the support I had here was fantastic and I really appreciate it."

While McIlroy had been bidding to become the second youngest champion at Augusta, Schwartzel was playing in only his second Masters and had never finished in the top 10 of any major before. Asked what he could say by way of comfort to McIlroy as they set off for Asia, the South African replied: "It's difficult. What do you say? He's such a good player. He's going to win a major some time. The way he played the first three rounds you have to think that a win is not that far away.

"Golf is a really funny game. One moment you're on top of it and the next it bites you. He's such a phenomenal player. He'll win one. He's going to be disappointed and he's going to feel hurt, but he's a good enough player to come back out and win."

McIlroy's collapse brought back memories for Greg Norman, who led by six at the start of the final day in 1996 but shot 78 and lost by five to Nick Faldo. "I knew exactly how he felt – I've experienced it," the Australian said. "What is it with golf destiny? Isn't it strange? It taps you on the back of your head and it either pushes you ahead or pushes you back. Who determines that? It's crazy."