A posse of Australian golfers will descend on Augusta next week in a bid to end 70 years of heartbreak at The Masters. For the opening Major of the year is one of the very few sporting pinnacles that the men from Down Under have failed to conquer.
Six times over the years Australians have finished as runners-up through Jim Ferrier, Bruce Crampton, Jack Newton and most heart-wrenchingly the three second-place finishes of Greg Norman.
The Great White Shark's failures to win at Augusta in 1986, 1987 and 1996 have gone down in sporting folklore.
In 1986 an ageing Jack Nicklaus rolled back the years to shoot a final round of 65 and pip the Australian at the post and the following year Larry Mize pitched in from 45 yards to stun him on the second extra hole of their play-off.
But it was in 1996 that Norman came closest to wearing the green jacket before he endured the ultimate golfing meltdown blowing a six-stroke lead to playing partner Nick Faldo in the final round.
Norman is no longer a factor at Augusta but nine of his compatriots are, lining up as the second biggest contingent after the Americans and many feel this could be the breakthrough year for one of them.
Alphabetically they are: Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Steve Elkington, Mark Hensby, Peter Lonard, Geoff Ogilvy, Nick O'Hern, Rod Pampling and Adam Scott, but its the last-named Scott who is seen as the best bet.
The highest-ranked Australian in the world rankings at ninth, the 25-year-old from Adelaide has been touted as a potential winner at Augusta since he made his first appearance there in 2002.
He finished a creditable ninth on that occasion but has failed to improve on that performance since then.
That could all change next week as the young man with the Tiger Woods golf swing looks to go on the attack despite the lengthening of the course to make it tougher for the long-hitters like him.
"I think I've been playing too defensively in the Majors and that's something I'm going to try to change.
"I think it's time to take a chance and play more aggressively and play the course like it's any other course.
"I might make a lot of bogeys, but you've got to make some birdies to win them. I know that."
Scott's form has been mixed on the US Tour this year but there has been no lack of Australian success with big wins for Appleby in the season-opening Mercedes Championships in Hawaii, for Ogilvy in the lucrative WGC Matchplay and for Pampling in the Bay Hill Invitational just two weeks ago.
On top of that Hensby has proven to be a gutsy performer in the Majors in the last year notably finishing tied for fifth in last year's Masters and O'Hern is playing the best golf of his career moving up to 26th in the world rankings.
It is just a question of one of them finding the right formula and making it last over four days of the most intense competition and pressure in golf.
Appleby says it may just be that that has prevented him from performing to the best of his abilities.
"I need to play better. I need to putt better. Maybe I need to relax more. Maybe I need to try harder. I'm not sure," he said.
"My preparation is usually always pretty good, so I must be probably trying too hard."
Whether he finds in time the magic key to unlock Augusta remains to be seen, but what is sure is that the chances that one Australian will do so is higher this year than ever before.
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