The Masters: Laird Shepherd relishing flock from St Andrews to Augusta

He could well be a trail-blazer. It’s unlikely, after all, that any player has teed up in The Masters in its 88-year history after starting their journey to Augusta in St Andrews.

“It’s kind of like a golfers’ pilgrimage,” said Laird Shepherd, who is flying the English flag in the season’s opening major but lives in St Andrews with his girlfriend, Scottish Women’s champion Chloe Goadby. “From the Home of Golf to one of the most mystical places in golf, I suppose.”

Shepherd, who met Goadby when they were both at Stirling University, secured his trip to Georgia by winning last year’s R&A Amateur Championship at Nairn, where, in an astonishing turnaround, he recovered from being eight down after 17 holes to beat fellow Englishman Monty Scowsill at the 38th hole.

The 24-year-old, who lists Rye in East Sussex as his home club but holds a St Andrews Links ticket and is a member of The Duke’s as well, made his major debut in last year’s Open at Royal St George’s, but this date has long been looming in his diary.

“It’s a different test than what I’ve had so far as the Amateur champion,” he said. “The Open was a more familiar environment in terms of having played the golf course before and it was links golf whereas now I am finding myself heading over to America to play a different style of golf than what we certainly play here as amateurs.

“The venue is also very special and I think that everything that goes around it is what separates The Masters from other events. You speak to a taxi driver, for example, and they will probably know about The Masters and I think that’s a cool thing about it.

“When I watched it on TV as a kid, it just looked so pristine. It’s definitely the event I watched more than any other one. I’d sit up