Here’s an amazing statistic.

Jimmy Walker is the first Augusta National rookie in 44 years to have won three PGA Tour events before his first Masters.

And while Walker has already won three times on the 2013/14 PGA Tour wraparound schedule here’s something else that little know about the Lone State born golfer – he’s got a remote-controlled long-range telescope and camera sitting on top of a mountain in New Mexico taking photographs of the solar system.

“I got into it just buying a telescope for the backyard and not being able to see a ton of stuff so then I started reading and learning on how you would get into attaching cameras and stuff to a telescope,” he said.

” Then I just, with my personality to want to be good at something, I just took it to a whole other level and learned a lot, read a lot, practiced a lot.  And it’s evolved to me moving all my stuff out to New Mexico where it sits on top a mountain and fires away every night.  It was working last night.     

“Pretty much everything’s been photographed in our solar system with the exception of some littler stuff, but most of the stuff everybody’s photographed.

“So for me it was looking at it and trying to present it in a way that really had not been seen before as far as style or how I think it should look or how it does look.

“I take ‑‑ I go shoot targets that have been shot before, and all I’m doing is taking pretty pictures is what I’m doing, but it’s difficult and tough to do.  I’ll see an object and think, wow, that looks like fun, I’m going to go take a shot at that one and see if I can do better than what I think is ‑‑ what I would consider the best shot of it out there and to see if I can improve on it, make it better, or not even do it justice.

“And I feel I’ve done some pretty good stuff.  I have some stuff I haven’t put out just because I don’t feel like I’ve quite gotten it right.  So it is art and if I don’t like it, I won’t put it out.

“I’m still sitting on a couple, three or four or five pictures that I’ve never put out just because I don’t like them or I don’t like the way they have come out.

“I keep tweaking them and working on them, trying to get it where I like it”.

But back down to earth can Walker become only the third first-time Masters invitee to succeed?

“I really like the way the golf course looks,” he said.

“You get to certain places and golf courses feel better to your eye, feel better to your game, and this place definitely, I feel like it kind of suits my style of play.

“So I am excited to get out there and play, and on some golf courses you go to, you just don’t get the vibe, tee shots don’t look good, second shots don’t look good.  But definitely this place, I do enjoy playing here”.