To win, you must first learn to come second. Sounds like a Chinese proverb doesn't it, but like so many of golf's sayings, it is rooted in truth. Rory McIlroy, 19, and Melissa Reid, 20, are two of Britain's prodigies and both had to come to grips with disappointment last night after they had looked as though they were about to win their first touraments as professionals - and yet neither did.

McIlroy, the talented Ulsterman, led the European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland, by four strokes after three rounds and had his eye on becoming the third-youngest winner in the history of the European Tour. However, he missed two short putts, first on the 72nd green and then on the same green the second time round in the sudden death play-off.

Reid had the mortifying experience of seeing her six-stroke lead after 36 holes of the rain-curtailed Nykredit Masters at Helsinger, Denmark, wiped out by Martina Eberl, of Germany, who went on to win by one stroke. It is often said that little is learnt in victory but an awful lot in defeat, and it will be interesting to see how McIlroy and Reid handle these setbacks.

McIlroy, who had missed the cut in his three previous tournaments, must have fancied his chances when he regained the lead with a birdie on the 15th. He was still a stroke ahead as he walked to the 18th tee. This is a tricky but not over-difficult hole of just over 400 yards, with a sloping fairway and a small artificial water hazard to the right of the green.

McIlroy's tee-shot reached the fairway and his second ended in the fluffy grass inches from the back of the green. His chip slid perhaps five feet past and from there, appearing to hurry his putt, he pulled it wide of the target and fell back into a tie with Jean-François Lucquin, of France, who had a few minutes earlier holed a tricky five-footer for a par and emitted a series of bellows that split the Alpine air. You would have thought that Lucquin had won the Open.

The pair halved the first extra hole in pars but playing the 18th for the second time, McIlroy again missed a short putt, this time of no more than three feet. He missed it to the left, again, and looked as though he had played too quickly, again. It was a reminder of the speedy and slightly snatched one he missed putting to win a foursomes match in the Walker Cup at Royal County Down last September. With less pressure on him, Lucquin holed for a birdie for his first victory after 175 attempts.

Reid may find the disappointment of losing to Eberl easier to deal with than McIlroy's defeat by Lucquin. It was Reid's third runner-up finish on the women's European Tour this year, after coming second at the ABN AMRO Open in the Netherlands and at the English Open. She also finished third at the MFS Australian Open.

Although she could not repeat the eagles and birdies of her first two rounds, Reid appeared not to do too much wrong.

She had to accept that while she was playing with Annika Sorenstam, who was appearing for the last time in Europe, Eberl was playing the round of her life in the group ahead. Eberl was seven under par for her last round, Reid level par.

“It is a bit annoying but I played really badly today,” Reid said. “I am 20 years old and I want to win so badly that I probably need to stay more patient and shoot lower.” The same could, no doubt, be said of McIlroy.

Omega European Masters
Leading final scores
Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland (Great Britain and Ireland unless stated): 271: R McIlroy 63, 71, 66, 71; J-F Lucquin (Fr) 68, 67, 69, 67 (Lucquin won play-off at second extra hole). 272: C Cévaër (Fr) 68, 71, 65, 68; G Orr 67, 71, 67, 67; M Á Jiménez (Sp) 68, 69, 68, 67; J Clément (Switz) 69, 68, 67, 68. 273: J Abbate (Arg) 68, 67, 69, 69; R Dinwiddie 76, 64, 64, 69; R Echenique (Arg) 69, 70, 66, 68; R McGowan 67, 73, 66, 67. 274: F Molinari (It) 69, 70, 69, 66; A Cañizares (Sp) 67, 68, 69, 70; J Zapata (Arg) 66, 72, 67, 69. 275: M Lorenzo-Vera (Fr) 70, 69, 71, 65; B Lane 71, 70, 65, 69; R Sterne (SA) 69, 70, 68, 68. 276: L Oosthuizen (SA) 69, 68, 71, 68; M Foster 72, 66, 68, 70. 277: R González (Arg) 73, 68, 70, 66; M Eliasson (Swe) 70, 72, 68, 67. 278: G Fernández-Castaño (Sp) 68, 71, 75, 64; T Jaidee (Thai) 70, 71, 68, 69.

Women's Nykredit Masters
Leading final scores
Humlebaek, Denmark (Great Britain and Ireland unless stated): 205: M Eberl (Ger) 66, 73, 66. 206: M Reid 67, 66, 73. 210: A Sorenstam (Swe) 71, 68, 71. 211: I Tinning (Den) 70, 70, 71. 214: J Tvede (Den) 75, 71, 68; L Davies 73, 72, 69; L Wahlin (Swe) 70, 74, 70; B Allen (US) 72, 70, 72. 215: A Monke (Ger) 72, 74, 69; C Alonso (Sp) 73, 72, 70; D-C Becker (Ger) 68, 76, 71; B Brewerton 72, 72, 71; N Reis (Swe) 71, 72, 72; J Westerberg (Swe) 72, 68, 75. 216: L Hall 78, 69, 69; S Renell (Swe) 72, 74, 70; T Plucksataporn (Thai) 73, 71, 72; M Skarpnord (Nor) 72, 72, 72; M Nagl (Ger) 70, 74, 72; E Zackrisson (Swe) 69, 74, 73. 217: KS Taylor 69, 80, 68; C Queen 69, 78, 70; E Esterl (Ger) 73, 74, 70; L Terebey (US) 74, 70, 73. 218: N Garrett (Aus) 68, 81, 69; V Zorzi (It) 70, 76, 72; L Hall 75, 71, 72.