TO most people the date April 1 is mainly associated with April Fool’s Day, however, for golf fanatics it’s primarily a sign that The Masters is right around the corner.
Shane Lowry proved as much with an Instagram post on the day of what is “on my mind”.
This year’s tournament will be held between April 10-13[/caption]
Lowry is going into it in good form as he sits at a career high in the world rankings at 13[/caption]
The most likely outcome is that we once again see world number one Scottie Scheffler getting presented with another Green Jacket[/caption]
Who knows how Rory McIlroy’s latest effort at completing the career Grand Slam will pan out[/caption]
The 37-year-old is clearly getting excited at the most fabled tournament of the lot being only slightly more than a week away.
He busted out an official branded coffee cup to start his day with the Ray Charles classic “Georgia On My Mind” picked out as the clip’s musical accompaniment.
The competition is famed for only selling branded souvenirs on site at Augusta National during each year’s edition of the four-day highlight of the golfing calendar.
Lowry has been given a 33/1 chance by oddsmakers to end up being the lucky one who gets to throw on the Green Jacket when the final round finishes up on Sunday April 13.
And somehow, despite him nearly seeming to be cursed around the Georgia course, Rory McIlroy has been installed as SECOND-FAVOURITE behind only Scottie Scheffler.
McIlroy is listed at 6/1 while the defending champion is 4/1.
In fairness to County Down’s most famous son, he is coming off winning The Players as well as a tie for fifth at the Houston Open.
He did though, make an alarming admission in an interview immediately after his Sunday round.
He initially said: “I still feel like I’ve got some stuff to work on, but overall, a solid week and nice to have another week to get ready and fine-tune my game going to Augusta.
“I still don’t think my game is 100 percent under the control I want. But it’s nice to have a week to work on some things.”
But then came a worrying injury admission.
He added: “My right elbow’s been bothering me a little bit.
“So maybe just get some treatment on that and make sure that that’s okay going into Augusta.
“I’ve got my coach, Michael Bannon, coming in tomorrow.
“We’ll do some work. And, you know, make sure that everything’s in good shape for a week’s time.
“It’s just about feeling as comfortable as I can be with the things I’ve been working on.
“And those are iron play, wedges, obviously, short game is really, really important around Augusta as well.
“So I’ll work on those things over the next few days, and hopefully I’m feeling good going in there.”
