It took two phone calls Friday night to coax Rory McIlroy back down Magnolia Lane to explain one of the last actions of a final few holes of golf he was doing his best to forget.

Nineteen-year-old Rory McIlroy follows his fairway shot on No. 1. He made two birdies and only one bogey for his best round of 1-under par 71. (Chris Thelen/Staff)

The second call from Augusta National Golf Club brought the Northern Ireland teenager in to deconstruct a kicking motion he made in a bunker on the 18th green.

McIlory maintained he was smoothing footprints in the bunker, but the motion could have prevented him from making the cut if officials ruled he had illegally tested the hazard. McIlroy, though, avoided being sent home in his Masters Tournament debut when the competition committee cleared his name after the meeting.

"They wouldn't ring you twice if it wasn't important, would they?" said Chubby Chandler, who is McIlroy's manager. "They wouldn't ring you twice. They just wanted him to sit there (look at the video) and explain that's not a kick. He just needed to say it."

When McIlroy, 19, returned to play another round Saturday morning, he turned it into his best of the week (71), even though he didn't set a daily best in any statistic other than sand saves. He is even-par for the tournament, tied for 32nd place.

McIlroy converted three of four sand saves in his third round, and each time, he altered his post-shot routine. Instead of smoothing the sand with his foot, he allowed caddy J.P. Fitzgerald to do the work with a rake.

"I mean, I know I didn't do anything wrong, but I didn't want to be put in that position again," said McIlroy, who had moved as high as sixth place Friday before he played the final three holes in 5-over.

The controversy on Friday began on the final hole. McIlroy spoiled a nice drive when his approach sailed into a greenside bunker. His third shot failed to clear the trap, and he made a motion with his foot. The Rules of Golf prohibit a player from testing the condition of a hazard before playing a stroke in a hazard.

"Based on the tape and Mr. McIlroy's statement ... it was determined that no violation of the rules had occurred," Augusta National competition and rules committees chairman Fred Ridley said in a statement.

Playing with defending champion Trevor Immelman in the third round, McIlroy birdied the par-5 second hole for the first time, bogeyed No. 7 when he couldn't get up and down from the front left bunker, then finished with 10 consecutive pars after a birdie on No. 8.

"Played very solidly," he said.

McIlroy confers with his caddie, J.P. Fitzgerald, as he walks the No. 1 fairway. After Friday's confusion at a hazard, McIlroy played it safe in the third round by having his caddie smooth any sand with a rake. (Chris Thelen/Staff)

Those 10 pars came in all sorts of interesting ways: getting up and down on the par-5 15th after his 5-wood second shot sailed into the water; two-putting from four feet on No. 14; or driving down the middle of the 18th fairway, smacking an approach to the middle of the green and two-putting on the hole that gave him so much trouble less than 24 hours previous.

Chandler said his client learned from the incident.

"He's a good kid; he didn't do anything wrong ... he'll learn plenty, but I was more concerned that he (will get) two more rounds in at Augusta National more than anything," Chandler said.

Reach Matt Middleton at (706) 823-3425 or matt.middleton@augustachronicle.com.