Philip Reidlooks at the chances of Henrik Stenson becoming the first European to win a major since 1999.
This time, there's no dipping under the radar for Henrik Stenson. Like it or not, and he probably enjoys it all, the Swede is seen as "the European most likely". A year on since he missed the cut here at Augusta National on his debut appearance, Stenson, newly married to his childhood sweetheart, Emma Lofgren - and with a child on the way - carries the burden of great expectations.
That burden is nothing new. For years, Stenson has been his own fiercest critic, and his own biggest admirer. He knows he has the game to win the big tournaments. The thing is, everybody else it seems thinks the same, including Padraig Harrington.
Harrington anticipates a strong European challenge - there are 27 players from Europe, including two amateurs, in the field - to be led by Stenson, already the winner of the Accenture Matchplay this season and currently top of the European Tour's order of merit.
Although a tad concerned the Swede might not have sufficient experience to cope with the nuances of the Augusta greens, Harrington remarked: "I don't think anyone would not pick out Stenson, except for his lack of experience on the course. It's not an easy course to get to learn.
"But Henrik's game is totally suited for a green jacket. He's a long hitter, but has a high spin which is what you really want. Your distance control is so important. So he would be the one I would single out . . . but, with Augusta, you also need that bit of experience."
Stenson's experience of Augusta National is confined to two rounds last year, when he arrived here a fortnight after a third-place finish in The Players championship. That finish at Sawgrass had players in the locker room tipping him as a dark horse. It wasn't to be.
Stenson, notoriously temperamental, but who has worked hard on a calmer on-course persona, made a sloppy bogey on the 17th with a poor greenside chip. He fumed and carded a double-bogey on the 18th. He eventually missed the cut by three.
Still, he did not consider his first Masters a total disaster. For those two rounds, he played alongside former champion Vijay Singh and took on board the Fijian's course management.
"I learned so much that I can apply this year," said Stenson. Then, late last year, he contacted Fanny Sunesson, who had caddied for Nick Faldo in two of his three US Masters wins. Part of the drill in the run-up to the event is that Sunesson - who is now on his bag - has been putting Stenson through some of Faldo's old pre-Masters preparations, specifically chipping to very precise distances.
The Stenson that graces today's fairways is a far cry from the one who walked in after nine holes of the first round of the European Open at The K Club in 2001. Of that time, Torsten Hansson, his sports psychologist, said, "for a long while, he couldn't hit the fairway; couldn't hit the golf course; he couldn't hit the planet".
To overcome those problems, Hansson got Stenson to walk blindfolded on a balance beam and to hit golf balls whilst blindfolded so he could learn to trust himself again. But all that work has been geared towards getting him to the stage he's now at - a potential Masters champion.
Of those low points in 2001, Hansson recalled: "In 2001, 2002 when he was at his lowest, we would talk about his boyhood dreams. The idea of someday winning the Masters, he held on to that very tight. He had to. Where else could he get the energy to continue?"
And, now, the path has led him to a second appearance at Augusta, and one where he carries the favourite's burden to become the first European to win a major since Paul Lawrie in the British Open at Carnoustie in 1999.
