It’s time to take a trip to golfing paradise once again.
The azaleas are blooming, the greens are flawless and the excitement is building.
Tomorrow golf’s finest set out onto the world famous course at Augusta National hoping to dip their sleeves in the sport’s most iconic jacket come Sunday evening.
And there’s a reason why the Masters appeals to golfs fans from handicap fanatics to armchair experts - it’s simply magic.
No other competition has produced such defining moments that stick in the memory long after the patrons have left Georgia.
The media team at the Masters have been releasing videos for the last two weeks to relive those iconic moments.
Phil Mickleson’s six-iron to the 12th from behind a tree in 2010 on his way to his third Masters win sets the tone nicely.
Laying up was the safe option, but this is Augusta. Where the course rewards bravery.
He slammed his shot to within three feet setting up an eagle that would spark him on to glory.
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Trees are a recurring theme. Bubba Watson’s sensational draw from an impossible position in the rough on the second sudden death play off hole in 2012 is another that sticks in the memory.
Yes he was lucky to have a line through the trees that looked like Moses was parting the red sea.
But he still held his nerve to fire expertly into the 10th that saw him bag a win and reduce the big hitter to tears.
Tiger Woods was bound to feature, and what better moment for the four-time winner than the sensational chip in on the 16th hole in 2005.
Nike couldn’t have hoped for better as his perfectly-struck chip saw the ball seem to pause at the lip of the hole and reveal the famous tick, before dropping in to spark one of the loudest cheers ever to reverberate around the course.
The big question now is who will produce this year’s magic moment on their way to sealing their place in golfing history?
The narrative recently has fallen on Rory McIlroy and his quest to to become just the fifth man to complete the career grand slam.
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The 29-year-old is in the best pre-Masters form of his life, claiming seven top 10s so far this year. He also won the unofficial fifth major - the Players Championship - last month. Could that be the lucky omen he needed?
Remarkably Jordan Spieth is yet to finish in the top 30 of a tournament this season. He’s found his putter again and has never finished worse than 11th at Augusta, so write him off at your peril.
The man who often flies under the radar, particularly in the UK, is Brooks Koepka who’d actually tie McIlroy on the career major list with a win this week.
It’s so hard to pick a winner, with so many players capable of producing when it matters on Sunday.
I love a first-time winner though, so I’ll be backing McIlroy and Rickie Fowler to get their respective monkeys off their backs.
