The rollercoaster ride continued with a bogey-birdie on five and six and continued into the turn with bogey-birdie-bogey start to the back nine.

The world number two, however, will no doubt be pleased with his finish as he mounted a late charge with birdies on three of his final four holes, including one at the last, for his third consecutive round of two-under 70.

This week's tournament, founded and hosted by golfing great Jack Nicklaus, attracted eight of the world's top 10 players.

World number one Tiger Woods, whose father Earl died earlier last month, and eighth-ranked David Toms were the only absentees.

Most of the other top 10 players, however, failed to feature on the leaderboard.

Spain's world number seven Sergio Garcia closed on a positive note with three birdies on a bogey-free back nine for three-under 69 but still finished well down the leaderboard at two-under 286.

Number four Vijay Singh closed out a disappointing week with a two-over 74 for a final total of three-over 291 but the players most happy to see the back of Muirfield Village will be South Africa's world number three Retief Goosen and number six Ernie Els.

Goosen, a twice U.S. Open champion, leaves Dublin without breaking par carding a final round three-over 75 while Els, the 2004 Memorial champion, signed for a nine-over 81 after a horrendous back nine that included a triple bogey and a pair of double bogeys.