From 125/1 on Wednesday night to 20/1 just 24 hours later.
Shane Lowry proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that, contrary to popular belief, the 2016 Masters was far from a three horse race between Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day.
The Offaly man carded an opening round of 68 to finish just two shots off of leader Spieth on Thursday evening.
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 7, 2016
After parring the first, Lowry went on to birdie five of his next seven holes to storm into contention in Augusta.
Spieth would have felt relatively safe as he packed away his glove for the afternoon but Lowry could well have taken the lead if he’d had a bit more luck on the back nine.
The world number 32 left plenty of shots out on the course and was unfortunate not to benefit from a birdie over his final five parred holes.
His only bogey arrived on the 12th but, other than that, Lowry will have been delighted with his showing on day one.
And he certainly had his fans out in full voice.
Great round by the big man @ShaneLowryGolf #TheMasters
— Carl Frampton MBE (@RealCFrampton) April 7, 2016
Dammit gotta hit the bed early start for @IrelandAMTV3 but great stuff @ShaneLowryGolf @McIlroyRory#maybeonemore 🤔 #blearyeyed #Masters2016
— Shane Byrne (@shanebyrneoffic) April 7, 2016
Come on @ShaneLowryGolf you beauty
— Ian madigan (@Ian_madigan) April 7, 2016
Shane Lowry on fire !
— Marc Ó Sé (@osemarc2) April 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/nbrez/status/718169019812024321
Go on @ShaneLowryGolf you good thing! 🇮🇪☘
— Kevin Kilbane (@kdkilbane77) April 7, 2016
Come on @ShaneLowryGolf
— Rachel Gredley (@RACHEL_WYSE) April 7, 2016
Great start from @ShaneLowryGolf at #TheMasters!
Watch to see which players backed him to go all the way.https://t.co/oKK6gKIO68
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) April 7, 2016
Hon @ShaneLowryGolf driving sparks out of agusta #Masters2016
— Eddie Brennan (@NedzerB13) April 7, 2016
Lowry flying ⛳️ #Masters2016 🇮🇪🇮🇪
— Colm O Neill (@crossbar13) April 7, 2016
Absolutely unbelievable start from Shane!! 🇮🇪⛳️ #Masters2016
— Laurence Kinlan (@laurencekinlan) April 7, 2016
Shane Lowry: Strong beard and strong play. The Irishman is four-under par and only two off the lead #TheMasters pic.twitter.com/FOZongeh9x
— Ladbrokes (@Ladbrokes) April 7, 2016
Anyone else heard Shane Lowry has great hands?
— Eunan O'Kane (@eunan10) April 7, 2016
Big smiley head on @ShaneLowryGolf in his profiler on @PGATOUR website and sure why not, he's flying!! #Masters2016 pic.twitter.com/YoHEOFJFuo
— Jacqui Hurley (@jacquihurley) April 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/Robroe505/status/718200905661853696
In no uncertain terms, HON @ShaneLowryGolf 🇮🇪⛳️
— Tom Nugent (@tom_nugent_) April 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/KT_Kerr/status/718195713545515010
https://twitter.com/grahamhurtado24/status/718195534356463616
Come on @ShaneLowryGolf keep burning it up 🔥🔥🔥⛳️⛳️⛳️ #TheMasters #agusta
— Ian Fitzpatrick (@ianfitz1992) April 7, 2016
Come on @ShaneLowryGolf #Masters2016 👍🏻
— Tom Keating (@tomdkeating) April 7, 2016
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