Pádraig Harrington is trying to make his final countdown to the British Open reminiscent of last year - so much so that he even says: "If I knew which socks I wore during the week I would probably wear the same ones again".
A successful defence of the Irish PGA Championship at The European Club on Saturday was the perfect start to Harrington's bid to recreate the feelings of Carnoustie 12 months ago.
Now he has moved on to Royal Birkdale, where American sports psychologist Bob Rotella will again be staying with him and where tomorrow night he will again be attending the golf writers' annual dinner.
Not only that, but Harrington will be speaking at it once more, albeit in a different capacity. Last year it was to present a trophy for outstanding achievement to his coach Bob Torrance, this time it is to receive the Golfer of the Year award.
"It's not a situation that I'll eat my dinner at 6.30pm and have spaghetti bolognese because that's what I did on the Monday night of The Open," says the Dubliner before anyone gets the impression he is taking superstition to a new level.
"You look to your best events and you say 'Well, how did I do that, what did I do there?' and you try and build it up.
"That in many ways is how I prepare for all my tournaments. You try and learn from everything."
Harrington believes he picked up something from partnering Angel Cabrera in his defence of the US Open at Torrey Pines last month.
Cabrera missed the cut and Ireland's first major champion for 60 years observed: "I felt he was trying harder in some ways. You could see how much more it meant to him that week.
"I was watching it and saying 'you've got to do those things, but it has no reflection on the fact that he won it the year before'.
"I know it's great to turn around and say you finished top 10 the following year - it's a good defence - but I believe that you have to try and separate the two in order to have a good week.
"You have to go there with a clean slate and play the 2008 Open at Birkdale for the sake of that event.
"I'm not denying that it wouldn't mean more to me at The Open this year, but I do have to make the effort to make it feel just like a regular event.
"There will be extra things around it, there's no question. There is more of a sideshow going back to defend any tournament and you are a bit more in the spotlight, but you've got to downplay it a little bit.
"It doesn't matter what I do in my defence - I still am the 2007 Open champion. I'm not going there to prove anything.
"My performance this year has no reflection on my performance of 2007 and I've got to create that atmosphere for myself. There's no point in me going in trying to burden myself with the expectations."
