US Masters countdown: Ah, the fruits of knowing you've arrived. Finally. Paul McGinley hasn't journeyed down Magnolia Drive since his only appearance here in 2002, and certainly didn't think it would take so long to get back again.

But here he is, back at Augusta National Golf Club, with a brand new TaylorMade golf bag - currently empty of clubs - in his hands and the competitor's badge, the privilege only of those players teeing up in the season's first major, number 33 in this case, affixed to his clothing.

When McGinley first played here in 2002, he was so keen to visit this golfing shrine that he was the first to register. He was given the number two badge. Tiger Woods, as the defending champion, had the number-one badge reserved for him. There was no great rush this time round, but the sense of excitement is no less abated. The difference between McGinley now and McGinley then is that he is a far more experienced player.

"I'm a more seasoned pro. I've two Ryder Cups under my belt since the last time I played here. I've won some tournaments, and competed on the world stage much more than I had done. I am a better package."

He's chirpier, with a spring in his step - which is quite a contrast to the last time he was at a tournament. McGinley missed the cut at the Players Championship in Sawgrass a fortnight ago, when he was debilitated by the combined effects of jet lag and a reaction to hay fever medication, his first missed cut since the Smurfit European Open last July. He left there dejected, his confidence rocked.

A week spent in West Palm Springs in Florida where the greens were running 13 on the stimpmetre and the fairways were rock hard, enabled him to recharge the batteries.

However, McGinley's first nine holes of practice didn't go entirely according to plan yesterday, his new hay fever medication producing a similar reaction to that he experienced at Sawgrass. "It was horrible. I don't know how many times I sneezed," he remarked, cutting short his round so he could seek medical attention. The doctor has recommended an alternative nasal spray to combat the condition, rather than medication.

"I played really poorly at Sawgrass. It was my first missed cut in about a year, and form ebbs and flows as everyone knows. There's no reason to panic."

The course McGinley played in 2002 (when he finished tied-18th) is a mite longer than it was then. By 175 yards. On Sunday, when he checked in, McGinley spent time on the practice range, only venturing out to examine the first hole. What he saw didn't frighten him, especially since the weather forecast for the week is for sunshine which should leave the course hard and firm. The past four Masters have had weather delays during tournament rounds.

"I think a lot of the changes are going to be hidden this week. We're going to have firm fairways, and you'll see the ball rolling out. I don't think the changes are going to be a big issue. My instinct at the moment is you are going to find a lot of the changes will be hidden and less severe and less talked about because the weather conditions are going to be quite kind to us."

In his play of the first, McGinley hit a drive short of the fairway bunkers - which require a carry over 320 yards - and a six-iron approach to the green.

"From what I saw of the changes, I think they could suit me. On the first, the bottleneck now is 320 (yards) whereas before some of the guys could belt it over the sand and hit sand wedge in. Now they can't do that. So they might be hitting three wood to the position I'm hitting driver. That one hole is not going to hurt me."

Not that other holes don't intimidate. But, as McGinley reasoned, "the key is to find a way of playing the hole that doesn't suit your eye or suit the way that you're hitting it that week. Everyone in the field will have certain shots out on that course that they are going to have to be careful with".

McGinley, who is currently designing his first golf course at Macreddin Brook in Co Wicklow, wonders at the emergence of a long par three, such as the extended fourth here.

"I wouldn't have designed it, a 240 par three with rhododendron bushes five yards off the back of the green and a huge big bunker 25 foot deep at the front of it . . . when you see (Jack) Nicklaus and (Arnold) Palmer criticising so severely, you stand up and take notice. I've played here once before and I am in no position to criticise the course or criticise the changes."

So far this season, McGinley - who has slipped behind Portuguese Open winner Paul Broadhurst in the world points list in the Ryder Cup standings, but is still well placed on the European table - has failed to carry on from his Volvo Masters win at the end of last season.

A tied-ninth finish in the Qatar Masters and a tied-12th at Pebble Beach represent the high points.

This week, though, is where McGinley believes he belongs. Having spent the time watching the past three Masters on television, being here is confirmation that he is a better player.

"Playing here before helps. I think this is a place you've really got to know and understand . . . from what I've read and seen, (in the past) it was very much a hit it and work it down the fairway. The fairways were bowling alleys. You could hit them down left and right and make a decision. Now you've got to hit the fairway because coming out of that semi-rough into rock hard greens is not great, particularly with the way pins are tucked."

It's a challenge you sense McGinley is very much anticipating.