Phil Mickelson gave away his chance to win a third Masters with an awful third round, and his inconsistency on Sunday prevented the left-hander from making a move.

Mickelson made three bogeys and three birdies to close with a 72, leaving him at 2-under 286 and tied for fifth.

"I was hoping to make more of a run than I did, but it was a tough day and I felt like I had to fight pretty hard to keep it around par," Mickelson said. "I had some chances that could have brought it lower, but it doesn't look like it would have been enough anyways."

Mickelson struck the ball well and his chipping was better, but he was inconsistent on the greens.

"The last piece is I'll spend a little more time on putting and try to get that dialed in," Mickelson said. "I think I've been neglecting it a little bit working on the ball-striking aspect. When I come back in a couple weeks, hopefully I'll have that straightened out."

Good experience for Slocum

Alpharetta's Heath Slocum finished his first Masters with his best round of the week. Slocum shot a 69, including a near hole-in-one at the 16th. His 6-iron there finished six inches from the cup and led to his fifth birdie of the day.

"It was a good week," Slocum said. "Obviously the two middle rounds [76 and 77] I struggled a bit. But I'll walk away from this with a year under my belt, a year of experience."

Bad experience for Poulter

After playing so well for three rounds, Ian Poulter collapsed in the final round. The Brit made four double-bogeys en route to a 78. He finished at 4-over 292.

"There's no way I'm going to walk off today thinking that I've just had a nightmare, you know," Poulter said. "I've hit a few loose tee shots with the driver which were a bit off line, but it's blowing 25 miles per hour out there, and it's tricky."

Jimenez earns return trip

Miguel Angel Jimenez made the cut on the number at 3-over 147 but played his way into an exemption for next year's Masters by closing with a 72 and a 68, the low round posted on Sunday.

Jimenez had a 33 on the back nine, including a birdie at No. 18, and finished at 1-under 287. His best shot was a 7-iron on the seventh hole for eagle.

"It was very satisfying," Jimenez said. "That was the goal, no? For the weekend just to make the cut on Friday and then hope to jump up as much as possible."