An emotional Robert Allenby found comfort in his mother&aposs arms after his quest for a third Australian Masters gold jacket ended in disaster on the 15th hole at Huntingdale on Sunday. The tournament favourite was just one stroke behind Marcus Fraser and eventual winner Rod Pampling when his six-iron landed short and right in a greenside bunker. Inexplicably he skulled his second shot into an adjoining bunker and mishit his third, leaving it in the pot, before finally managing to land his fourth shot on the green a good 10 metres from the pin. Just to add to the drama, Allenby then proceeded to sink the putt, but the crushing realisation that his title quest was as good as over proved too much. An ashen-faced Allenby stopped to hug his mother Sylvia who&aposs seriously ill with cancer, but who came out especially to follow her son over the closing holes from a golf cart. Asked about his feelings at that moment, Allenby said: “Obviously, you know, just the thought of I think you can put two-and-two together without me even saying it.” “I think my emotions on that green showed you everything and I think you can read right into it.” Allenby hinted that his mother&aposs illness may have been on his mind, but preferred to put his predicament down to his misreading of the greens over the four days of the tournament. “It&aposs been tough, I might have pushed it a bit too much or I just keep losing concentration – that&aposs all it is,” he said. “I&aposm swinging the club as good as I&aposve ever done, you can look at the quality of the shots I&aposm hitting.” “It was just one of those weeks – I didn&apost make enough putts, but I definitely gave myself a lot of opportunities.” Allenby heads to Coolum this week for the Australian PGA and will be among the favourites for the Australian Open at Royal Sydney the following week.