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The Masters is upon us and Séamus Power has a spring in his step

James Lowe loves his pancakes; rising status of Connacht football; Lee Keegan on life as a TV pundit

Shane Lowry of Ireland laughs with Seamus Power of Ireland after a practice round prior to the 2023 Masters Tournament. Photograph: Ross Kinnaird/Getty

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Mary Hannigan
Thu Apr 6 2023 - 10:17

The 87th edition of the Masters is upon us and while Philip Reid heard Rory McIlroy talk about how well prepared he feels for the tournament, it’ll be Séamus Power who will have the biggest spring in his step after Wednesday’s back-to-back holes-in-one in the par three-contest at Augusta. That’s like winning the lottery two weeks running.

McIlroy and Power are among four Irish players in the 89-strong field, Shane Lowry and US mid-amateur champion Matt McClean the others, but, as Philip writes, it’s McIlroy’s 15th Masters appearance “that comes with, perhaps, greater expectations than ever”.

Apart from winning that green jacket, triumphing at Augusta allows you choose the menu for the following year’s champions dinner. Guests at Scottie Scheffler’s banquet on Tuesday, 32 past champions, had to work their way through cheeseburgers, shrimp, steak, redfish, mac and cheese, jalapeño creamed corn, fried Brussels sprouts and fries, washed down with a chocolate chip cookie and ice cream. They won’t be able to move for a month.

No pancakes, though, which won’t impress James Lowe. He’ll start tomorrow with a plate-full of them, he tells Gerry Thornley, will then watch the Masters, while snacking on a steak sandwich or pasta, before lining out for Leinster in their Champions Cup quarter-final against Leicester at the Aviva Stadium.

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In Gaelic games, meanwhile, Ciarán Murphy hasn’t had a great deal of Connacht success to dine out on over the years, but ahead of this year’s football Championship he declares that the west’s awake, Mayo and Galway topping division one in the league giving him hope that Sam Maguire will be heading west come the end of July.

Mayo, of course, will have to prevail without the help of Lee Keegan, who announced his retirement in January, Paul Keane talking to the five-time All Star about being a television pundit for rather than a player in this year’s Championship.

In cycling, Shane Stokes hears from Megan Armitage a couple of weeks after she became the first Irishwoman to win a UCI-ranked stage race, at the Vuelta Extremadura Féminas in Spain, while Sonia O’Sullivan tells us about the Cobh-10 Mile, its fourth running taking place in her hometown last Sunday.

Telly watch: It’s day one of the Masters, with Sky Sports Golf’s coverage starting at 2.0pm. By then Irish amateur Matthew McClean will already have teed off (1.12pm Irish time), followed by Shane Lowry (2.36), Séamus Power (2.48) and Rory McIlroy (6.48).