Even though he has won two of the last three Masters Phil Mickelson admits he is "a little nervous" about the start of his title defence at Augusta tomorrow.
Last year Mickelson travelled to the first major of the season riding the crest of a wave, having just won the BellSouth Classic in Atlanta by an incredible 13 strokes.
Unable this time to go back to the Sugarloaf course for his final warm-up because of its switch of dates on the US Tour schedule, the left-hander has not had a top-20 finish on his last two starts.
And while Tiger Woods has just added a 13th World Championship to his 12 majors Mickelson said: "I feel like I'm playing well, but the scores have not been reflecting it the last two weeks, so I'm a little bit nervous.
"Last year was the best-case scenario. I didn't have stress - I knew I was playing well. And I can't think of a time I've felt more comfortable or more relaxed going into the final round.
"I sat in the locker room talking to Billy Casper and hearing old stories. I enjoyed the time we had here, we had a lot of rain delays and had a lot of hours telling stories."
As 12 months ago, Mickelson will have two drivers in his bag. But, unlike last year, one of them will be the revolutionary square-headed club just on the market.
"The square one goes 20 yards longer than my regular one, so when I need distance I use it. When I try to hit little low shots or work it around the trees on 10 or 13 I'll use the regular-shaped driver.
"I think there's a slight mis-perception that you have to hit the ball right-to-left here. Augusta National tests your abilities for ball-striking, your ability to hit the ball high, hit the ball low, the ability to hit fades, draws. You have to be able to manoeuvre the ball around and I love the way the course sets up."
Deciding not to play in Houston last week enabled Mickelson to travel to Augusta eight days ago.
"There are very few courses where I get excited just to go play and every time I stand on the first tee at Augusta National I'm excited just to play a round of golf.
"There are very things in the game that I love more than just playing here and it's great to have a chance to play and see the course when there's nobody out here."
Woods is going for a third successive major and on that his great rival commented: "I think it's a fun challenge to beat him. He's most likely the best player the game has ever seen.
"If I have a great rest of my career and I go out and win 20 more tournaments and seven more majors to get to 50 wins and 10 majors, which would be an awesome career, I still won't get to where he's at today."
