Here we go. There are moments in the build-up to a major championship when you think that you are never going to get to your tee-off time in the first round, but we're there now. It's the start at last.

This is my fourth Masters and I have a good record at Augusta. My finishing positions have been going down year by year: 39th in 2003, 22nd the next year and fifth last year. I have led on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the past.

The biggest thing about winning a major championship is believing that you can and last year was key for me in terms of making that step up. I definitely believe I am good enough to win. Throughout my career I have generally played the hard courses well. That is a strength, something I shall be telling myself this week.

I have learnt that I can play Augusta National, but I have also learnt that the course demands respect. There are certain holes where you have to hold yourself in control. Suppose I lost my patience and tried to force birdies out of the par-fives such as the 13th and 15th going for the green in two when I was a 50-50? In situations such as that I have learnt to give the course a bit of respect, to lay up and try to get a birdie with a wedge and a single putt.

This is what Zach Johnson did last year. Zach's way is a very low-stress way to play Augusta National. I am similar in length to Zach. I do not consider myself a long hitter. For me it is all about control and good iron play and mastering the short game around here.

Most people know all about the beauty of Augusta National, but what you might not realise is how strategic a course it is. It is a course on which you can never stop thinking. I have changed the four-wood I had in my bag at this event last year for a five-wood. The five-wood is better suited to the par-three 4th hole. I can also use the club to help me in my tactical thinking. For example, if I need a four-wood to get to the par fives in two, I am going to lay up. I am only going to go for the par fives if I have a real green light and by that I mean a good number with a four-iron.

I have a new ball this year, too, one that is softer than the one I used before. This should be a huge benefit around the greens because the fact that it feels softer means that I get a better feeling from it on the clubface and I feel as though I can control it better for those shots around a green that are so important here. But with full shots it is a lower-spinning ball, so it really goes the distance. It has the number 99 on it, as all my golf balls do. I am not superstitious, but 9 is my wife Kate's lucky number and the manufacturers put a 9 on the ball. I figured we may as well double up and have a 99 and get double the luck.

It was cold and windy last year and I started with a 69. On a day when the average score was 76.18, Brett Wetterich and I were the only two to break 70. On the last day I was only one stroke behind Zach Johnson when I stood on the 17th tee. But then I pushed my drive and my ball ricocheted off a tree away on to the 15th fairway and I took a six and finished fifth. I was the highest-placed European. I took a long, hard look at that tree when I went past it this year. I didn't think they would appreciate me chopping it down, although I felt like it.

I have noticed here this week how a major championship can be tiring if you don't manage your time properly. Generally your practice schedule goes up at these events. Time management becomes an issue. You feel you want to hit two more chips from each position than you would normally because everyone is that little bit more intense.

Managing my time is something I have to work on. Tiger Woods is very good at it, I notice. He gives his time when he has to, but he is very disciplined when it is his working time. That is sometimes easier said than done when everyone is asking you about him. Nobody is asking him about you.

This time last year I arrived here after a five-week break from the game because of my back. Mick Doran, my caddie, who I was using for the first time, suggested that in order not to strain my back we should play a few holes using a wedge and a putter. It worked well last year and I started doing it quite often in practice for big events. I did it again on Tuesday. Mick and I went out with just my sand wedge, lob wedge and putter.

It might seem that, as I am only playing half the course, I would take half as long, but that is not the case. I took 2 hours to play the back nine. I not only played from places where I knew I was going to be playing from, I also played from places where I knew I might have to play from - places I have baled out to.

I always rent a house at Augusta. It is so much easier to have guests and I find that I enjoy the dinners in the evening. It is a good way to get away from the golf, from being too intense. It works well.

This year I have two friends from North Hants Golf Club, where I grew up, staying with me. They are the kind of guys I don't necessarily speak to week in and week out, but they are good old friends of mine and they have been around since Day 1. They are golf nuts and I think they will really enjoy this week. I think it is important to give your tickets to people who really appreciate what is going on. It's the first time for both of them. I hope they bring me luck. Imagine if they saw me win.