When Shane Lowry reached five under par after eight holes of the opening round of the Masters, it looked like he might just force the headline writers to ditch their plan to find yet more ways of eulogising the way Jordan Spieth ritually dismantles par at Augusta.
The 22-year-old did it again yesterday - shooting a 66 in a strong breeze for a two-shot lead over Lowry and Danny Lee – a round that Spieth admitted was as good a return from Augusta as his opening 64 from last year.
He set a number of Masters records again with this effort to go with a bunch from last year, most notably it was the first time any player in the Masters held the lead outright in five consecutive rounds.
Spieth said: “I just scored the ball extremely well, which is something I have been struggling with this season. I feel like my game has been trending in the right direction this season – I just haven’t got the scores for how I felt I have been playing.
"I am extremely pleased with that round today. I feel like we stole a few.”
Spieth posted his round early in the afternoon and, in spite of the wind that blew through the tall pines, there were no shortage of serious challengers.
World number Jason Day got to five under before taking 41 shots on the back nine in a level-par 72.
Then it was Lowry who soared with four birdies in a row from the second hole to the fifth.
He picked up another shot at the eighth, which took the Offaly man to five under through the front nine.
The putter went a bit cold from there on, and there was a solitary bogey on the 12th and so he signed for a four-under round of 68, which leaves him tied for second place in just his second Masters.
“I said to myself going around there, especially when I was on that run of birdies in the front nine, that there is no better place in the world to be,” the former Irish Open winner said about his day.
"It’s the greatest golf tournament in the world, the golf course is amazing and when you’re playing well around here it is always nice.
“There is going to be some tough days in golf so you have to enjoy the good ones and this is one of the good ones."
Rory McIlroy also got to four under after he covered the two back-nine par fives in an eagle-birdie flourish, but two late bogeys saw him sign for a two-under par 70, which leaves him tied for seventh place on two under, his second best start in his eighth Masters appearance.
Graeme McDowell shot a level-par 72 and Darren Clarke a 76, the same as former Masters champion Adam Scott.
Bubba Watson signed for a 75 and Rickie Fowler posted an 80, which was incidentally the same score as Ernie Els.
The South African opened his Masters by taking a sloppy six putts from three feet for an unwanted Masters record score of nine at the very first hole, in contrast to memorable days for Spieth, Lowry and Lee.
