Seamus Power tee's off his Master's Campaign this afternoon in Augusta.
It's the first Major appearance for the West Waterford man, who will be out on the course from 5.54 pm Irish time along with former champion Parick Reed and Lucas Herbert.
For the first time ever, four Irish men are at the tournament as Power is joined by a who's who of Irish golf with Padraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy, and Shane Lowry.
While Power enters the fray as an Augusta rookie, his three fellow Irish men have plenty of experience driving down Magnolia Lane.
Lowry has been there six times, McIlroy is going into his fourteenth Masters while Harrington has been there once more than his Holywood friend.
Power is the most improved golfer in the world these past 14 months having climbed more world rankings spots than anybody else in the world in that time period, jumping from 463rd to 41st.
While hopes are high for Seamus, it's worth remembering that rookies tend to find the going tough around the famed course. Thoughts of winning are likely all too lofty, with only three rookies ever donning a green jacket. One of those can be written off from the start as Horton Smith won the inaugural tournament when the entire field were rookies. A year later, Gene Sarazen also claimed top honours beating Craig Wood in a playoff - the field held a lot of rookies that year also.
The only true rookie to win the title was Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 when a playoff between Zoeller, Tom Watson, and Ed Sneed ended up with Zoeller winning his only green jacket. Maybe there is something to cling to for Irish fans in that story, as Power's first PGA Tour win at the Barbasol came after a six-hole playoff with JT Poston. Funnily, it was the first-ever tournament play-off that Power had taken part in.
Speaking to the Irish Independent this week Pat Murphy of West Waterford golf club said that when he realised Seamus would be making his way to Georgia, he was overcome with emotion. "Just knowing how far he's come from the little fella who, once he got into it, used to be here all day, everyday. I can't even say he was the best of the young lads coming through here at the time. The likes of Mark Shanahan and Philip Spratt were probably better. But when Seamus put his mind to something he was always hard to stop".
As it stands, Seamus is due out on the course from 5.54 pm Irish time. That start is a half-hour delayed from when they were due out with thunderstorms playing their part as usual. The first group will now tee off at 1 o'clock UK time. Tiger Woods is due to make his return to competitive golf around half-past-3.
Photo Credit Masters Images
