AT A TIME when The English Patient has been scooping up Hollywood Oscars, a famously patient Englishman is seeking to extend his recent dominance of another American institution. Indeed Nick Faldo is set for a unique distinction when he defends the US Masters title at Augusta National next week.

The cash may be relatively modest in the context of Faldo's overall wealth, but the fact remains that in 13 appearances there he has accumulated $977,647. A top 20 finish this year would be sufficient to set him apart as the first player to exceed $1 million in Masters money.

In pursuit of a fourth Masters title, Faldo will be armed with a philosophy that has served him well - "We're all in charge of our own house." In common with such great exponents of the game as Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus, he has never expected favours in the competitive arena.

Apart from being the only European to win this coveted title on three occasions, he shares with Nicklaus the distinction of having successfully defended it, in 1990. Which is interesting in the context of his sudden death victory in 1989, when sceptics were prepared to dilute the achievement as a gift from Scott Hoch who missed a 30 inch putt at the first play off hole.

Naturally, a serious reappraisal was required 12 months later. Having started the final round three strokes adrift of Raymond Floyd, Faldo shot a courageous 69 to force, another play off. As European observers had come to expect, he never faltered in the white heat of sudden death.

Rather it was Floyd, renowned for his resolve, who wilted under the pressure. Down the fateful 11th, the American veteran hit his drive, ducked into a portable toilet and returned to rush his second shot. Faldo whispered to his caddie, Fanny Sunesson: "What's the rush?" Floyd produced a disastrous seven iron shot, which has been compared to one of the more destructive efforts of the much maligned, former golfing president Gerald Ford.

Yet for all his competitive toughness, Faldo will return to Augusta on this occasion as a very popular champion. That, of itself, is a remarkable turnabout for a player who was perceived by Americans as a decidedly cold fish from the time of that Masters breakthrough, eight years ago.

Ironically, it is the company of those same people that has helped rid him of the shy, awkward disposition which had him tastelessly thanking the media "from the heart of my bottom" after his third British Open triumph at Muirfield in 1992. Of course, his consideration for an utterly crushed opponent at Augusta 12 months ago did wonders for his image.

The warmth towards Greg Norman was demonstrated both in word and deed. In his moment of triumph, Faldo had the generosity of spirit and presence of mind to comfort the shattered Shark. Later, he said: "I honestly feel sorry for Greg. What he's been through is horrible. He's had a real rough ride out there today."

Faldo's successes at Augusta owe much to his tremendous respect for a course which he describes as demanding a higher degree of accuracy than any in the world. "In terms of strategic thinking, the designers got it absolutely right," he said. "I had to play the Masters six or seven times before I could feel comfortable about it." Against that background, it was an achievement never to have missed a cut there, despite some cruel setbacks.

"There is undoubtedly a scare factor to Augusta," he went on, looking towards next week's challenge. "You learn where you daren't mis hit a shot and if you're left with a chip, you know it's going to be difficult."

This level of precision appeals to Faldo's ordered mind, which is further reflected in a fascinating story about the occasion when he complained to his club manufacturers that the loft on a wedge they had sent him was slightly off. In the event, they assured him it was perfect. But he kept insisting it was off.

Conscious of his status in the game, they sought to placate him by having the club measured at the premises of a local professional. One more, he was assured that the loft was as should be. Still he told them they were wrong. Finally, somewhat irritated by the whole affair, they took the wedge back to the laboratory, where they discovered that Faldo was correct. The loft of the club was one hundredth of an inch off.

As a perfectionist, the work ethic has always been very important to him - "I hate people who have it all handed to them." So it is that the idea of carving out a score in high risk circumstances appeals to him enormously. He seems to relish the thought of all the potential disasters that lie in wait for the unwary on Augusta's celebrated homeward journey.

"The back nine can be really scary - and I don't mean just one or two holes," he said. "They all are. The 11th to the 15th can be startling for the degree of concentration and accuracy they demand. And the 16th is another great hole."

An almost dreamy look came over him as he continued: "They've all got their individual elements which make them special. You know that you must always leave the ball on the correct side of the pin, irrespective of whether you've got a wedge or a four iron in your hand.

"If you don't, you know what's going to happen. The ball will be swept away and suddenly, without doing anything seriously wrong, you're 50 feet from the target. That's when you need all the patience you can muster.

"Ideally, you've got to loft the ball perfectly onto each green and then you've got to release it and let it run the desired distance. If you get either of those elements fractionally wrong the difference is massive. And the more you bail out at Augusta, the harder it gets.

"Obviously the short game becomes crucially important. You can find yourself having to hit a two yard bunker shot or a two yard chip, which is quite unusual. From off the green, you've got to concentrate on moving the ball no more than two one of two yards, knowing that it will release at breakneck speed once it hits the putting surface.

"All of these factors lead you to play a certain way if you are to be successful. For me, it is what I call being defensively aggressive. You've got to be able to hit the ball as close as you dare to the ultimate spot on the green.

Everything in Faldo's game these days is geared towards the major championships. Inevitably, this tends to limit his satisfaction at winning regular tour events, as with the recent victory in the Los Angeles Open. Yet that became a coveted title because of the strong identification of his idol, Hogan, with the Riviera course.

These factors ensure that after a break from tournament action this weekend he will be arriving at Augusta in very good shape, mentally. Unlike Norman, whose final day struggle last year had much to do with a predominance of unhappy memories of the tournament, Faldo draws tremendous strength from the Masters. Indeed he has now decided that the 67 he shot last year was as close to the perfect - round as he has ever scored - despite the fact that overnight he believed he would need a 65 or 66 to secure the title. "Some people think that the perfect round must be a 60, or whatever," he said. "But I believe you've got to piece a quality score together, shot by shot, while coping with the pressure and the emotion of the occasion.

"The key thing with a major is that you need to be totally in control of your game. If you start missing greens early on it tends to set the tone for the remainder of the round. If you keep missing them, you're going to be grinding, really grinding hard, to get up and down, which is what I had to do for those 18 pars at Muirfield (in his 1987 British Open triumph).

"For me, the perfect round is about a total package, dominated by the importance of the prize. Looking back, I guess that 67, in which I hit 17 greens, was as good as it gets. The course was perfect the greens were fast and firm and it was the best score of the weekend. To my mind, that proves it was a helluva round."

Norman will be there again next week, seeking his first green jacket. In his rivalry with Faldo it is easy to forget that the Englishman hasn't always come out on top. For instance, in the 1993 British Open at Royal St George, Faldo led at the halfway stage and shared the lead with Corey Pavin after 54 holes, only to have Norman sweep past him on the final day.

Meanwhile, the champion is ready for the umpteenth media post mortem into last year's dramatic climax. "We all know where the start line is, we all know where the finish line is and what happens in between is all part of it," he said. "At the end of it, I shot 12 under, Greg shot seven and Phil Mickelson shot six. There's no more to be said."

But, of course, there is lots more. Much of it will centre on the shot which was probably more important than any other on Faldo's victory march last year: the two iron second he hit to the long 13th.

"That was a pretty severe challenge," he recalled. "The tension seemed to build very quickly. We all know what happened at the 12th (where Norman dumped his tee shot in the water for a double bogey five) and then, all of a sudden, I'm leading by two and I'm thinking `Oh gosh, now it's mine to either win or lose'."

Clearly relishing the memory of that pivotal moment, Faldo went on: "It was a key shot for me to get the ball on the green at the 13th. I knew I had to make a birdie four just to keep the pressure on. It was a shot of 228 yards and I had put a five wood in my bag just for a shot like that.

"It seemed the right club but, somehow, it just didn't look comfortable behind the ball. And feeling as good as I did, I really wanted to go for the back left corner of the green. So I changed clubs and hit one of the best two irons I've ever hit."

Faldo tends to do those things when in contention for a major championship. That's why he has won six of them.

In 202 tournaments in the US since his debut there in 1979 he has gained six victories, starting with the Heritage Classic in 1984. But there have been 33 other "International" wins, including three British Opens and three Irish Opens.

Meanwhile, by winning a third green jacket, he joined golfing luminaries Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead and Gary Player as part of the Masters lore. Someone suggested to Augusta officials that the patient Englishman was in distinguished company. "So are they," came the reply. Which might explain why Faldo feels so comfortable walking through Georgia.