Eleven years on from the day that changed his life, Ian Woosnam has restaged his Masters shoot-out with Tom Watson this week. And Augusta new boy Paul McGinley was only too happy to watch and listen.
Woosnam and Watson paired up again for a practice round on the course where they went head-to-head in the final round in 1991.
It was the perfect opportunity for McGinley to continue his quest to absorb as much information as he can before his debut on Thursday.
"They kept talking about it the whole way round," said the Dubliner. "Certainly Woosie did, any way!"
Woosnam, Watson and Jose Maria Olazabal were all 11 under par on the last tee, but after Olazabal bogeyed it Woosnam smashed a drive over the fairway bunker and parred the hole to win, whereas twice champion Watson double-bogeyed it to drop to third.
That drive is one shot Woosnam will not be reproducing this year, or ever again in all probability. The 18th has been lengthened by 60 yards and the bunker is now over 300 yards away.
McGinley has further practice rounds with two more Masters champions, Bernhard Langer and Mark O'Meara, lined up for today and tomorrow, but partnering Watson was particularly memorable for him.
"He's always been my favourite player. The way he plays the game, his smartness, his intelligence, the way he speaks, the way he carries himself, the way he addresses controversies straight on.
"I played a practice round with Tom at the US PGA last year and that was beneficial. This was even more so and Woosie was great too."
McGinley's instant liking for the course increased even more when he opened yesterday's round, his second, with a 300-yard drive and 143-yard wedge into the hole for an eagle two.
But inevitably when such things happen, he was left wishing he had saved it for the championship proper.
"I've gone out of my way not to practice with Darren (Clarke) and Padraig (Harrington) as much as I normally do because I wanted to learn as much as I could from guys who have been here a lot more times than them," he added.
"I know the course can change a lot in the tournament from what I see in practice. I am bearing that in mind and asking about conditions such as the various wind directions and, obviously, pin positions.
"Like everybody I know every hole backwards from watching on TV for many years.
"But it's a lot tighter than I expected, a lot tighter, and the greens are a lot quicker for the start of the week than I thought they would be. That took me by surprise. They're the fastest I've ever putted on by far.
"Then there are little things like the shot into the 13th green. From the fairway it looks fairly flat, but Tom and Woosie said that it plays at least a club uphill and when you get to the green and look back you can see it.
"Overall I didn't find the course particularly long by modern-day standards, but what I did find difficult was hitting as much as a four-iron into narrow greens which weren't designed for such clubs.
"The ninth, for example, is designed for an eight or nine-iron and off a good drive I was hitting four off a downslope to a rock-hard green above me."
The other two Europeans on their first visits to the hallowed turf are Belfast’s Michael Hoey and Swede Niclas Fasth, whose very first major championship in the Open at Lytham last summer saw him finish second.