TOUR SCENE: Every so often, the white towel fell to the ground and the golfer dressed in black stooped to retrieve it. Philip Reid reports.in Augusta

As before, he carefully placed it across his chest, holding it there with his upper arms, and put his feet on either side of sticks he had positioned on the practice range in the shape of a cross. The short-iron in his hands connected with another ball, and Padraig Harrington, with an intent look, stared after it.

The drill is one which the Dubliner has used often, but he feels it is more important this week than any other. As an amateur he was the king of the short game, but the quest to recover the magic is proving pretty elusive.

"This drill is one I've been doing for years. Basically, it is to make me stay connected. I'm trying to take the club with my body and my legs and not my arms and hands," said Harrington, who let somebody else do the driving on Sunday night as he made the trip down from Atlanta where he finished tied-eighth in the BellSouth Classic, collecting $106,400 in the process.

It was in Atlanta, though, that Harrington's latest concerns about his short game resurfaced. "It's very, very average. Very poor, in fact," he claimed yesterday, adding: "Last week I had 16 chips and only got up and down five times; and I had 17 wedge shots (into greens) and only got up and down three times.

"The technique is not bad, it's just that I am lacking confidence. It is something I have allowed to creep into my game over the years and it has just come to a head. I'd love to turn it straight away, because this is the golf course where you need to chip exceptionally well. But I could be that close to doing it, and I intend to practice my pitching and chipping a lot in the next couple of days."

Such a highly self-critical approach from Harrington is part of a desire to constantly strive for better results, and the build-up to his third appearance at the Masters is different to previous years. In fact, Harrington has only played five tournaments so far this season, something he admits is "leaving a little bit to chance for the Masters, but it will definitely make me better for the other three majors."

The reasoning behind this approach was to ensure that he would be sharp for the run of big tournaments throughout the summer months and into the autumn. "I didn't want to get to May and feel like I had played for the entire year," he said, "and I feel this is the right way to do it."

Yesterday was also the first time that Harrington got to see the changes made to a course that will play 285 yards longer than last year, when Tiger Woods took the title. A number of players - including Woods, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson - had sneaked down for preview rounds on the new-look layout. Mickelson, however, made the point that "you can pretty much pick it up" in one practice round, which is what Harrington also thought.

"I've loads of time to see what they have done," he said yesterday. "If they had changed greens, it would be different. I'd have to go out and look at them. But by changing the tee-boxes, it is simply a matter of going out and playing what you see.

"Once you play it once or twice, you'll know what to expect. I feel a little bit intimidated. I know the first hole will be tougher. In previous years I could clear the bunkers and hit a sand-wedge in; now you've a tighter drive to play level with the bunkers and I doubt if the eighth is on in two for me any more.

"But the big advantage here is to chip well, and that is what takes a huge amount of pressure off you."

The only Irishman to play in Atlanta (where Retief Goosen claimed his sixth win worldwide since taking the US Open last June, the hottest streak in golf at the moment) Harrington was the last of the Irish quartet to arrive in Augusta.

Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley and Michael Hoey all checked in on Sunday and, for Clarke, it was an opportunity to play a relaxed round with his father Godfrey, a seven-handicapper. The son's bet to the dad was that he wouldn't break 100, but Godfrey sank a four-footer on the last for a 99 to take the $20 bet.

McGinley, meanwhile, had a round yesterday in the company of Ian Woosnam and, from the seventh, Tom Watson joined them as he got to grips with a course that, despite the lengthening, looks as immaculate as ever.

Indeed, players had to endure greens that were faster than ever - simply because watering was kept to a minimum due to a weather forecast over the next few days that includes plenty of rainfall and the threat of thunderstorms.