There was a point when you thought Sergio Garcia was destined never to win a major title. Even the increasingly scunnered Spaniard thought the ship had sailed on those particular ambitions. “I'm not good enough, I don't have the thing I need to have,” he conceded back in 2012 after a particularly torrid day at the Masters which led to his own withering, downbeat self-appraisal.

When it came to golf’s major championships, Garcia seemed to be the bridesmaid more times than Elizabeth Taylor’s best friend. Since finishing runner-up in the 1999 PGA Championship as a bounding, leaping teenager, Garcia’s competitive consistency was underlined by the fact that in a 17 year spell, the majors of 2000, 2010 and 2012 were the only seasons in which he didn’t post a top-10 finish in at least one of the grand slam events.

Having had the kind of close shaves that Victor Kiam used to promote, Garcia’s luck changed in jubilant fashion a year ago when he finally snuggled himself into golf’s most cherished jacket with a tumultuous, topsy-turvy play-off victory over Justin Rose at Augusta. In his 74th major appearance, Garcia was a champion. The brassed off monkey leapt from his back and was seen trudging forlornly down Magnolia Lane looking for another player to stick the dreaded tag ‘the best player to never win a major’ on to.

Good things certainly come to those who wait. “For me it took a little bit longer,” he reflected on that long hang on for one of golf’s ultimate prizes. “I don't want to say that I'm glad it took that long because I wish it would have happened earlier. But there's an aspect of it that I'm really happy about, which is that now, because of waiting that long and trying so many times, I realise how much more important it is and I enjoy it more. I probably appreciate it even more. If I had won the PGA in 1999, it would have been amazing, but I don't think I would appreciate the major win as much as I've done this last year.

“There have been so many amazing stories and memories that I've been able to go through and experience since winning the Masters. I've been fortunate enough to play the Masters, I think it's 19 or 20 times now, and you know how big the Masters is. But after winning it, and being able to travel around the world with a green jacket, you realise how much bigger it is. So it's definitely given me an even higher respect and perspective towards it.”

By all accounts, this week’s showpiece in Augusta is the most eagerly anticipated Masters in years. The return of Tiger Woods, and the enticing prospect of him adding to his haul of four green jackets, has given the tournament a level of breathless expectation that will probably lead to volunteers dishing out complimentary oxygen masks on Washington Road. “I would expect him to do fairly well, but I don't know how well,” said a cautious Garcia, whose relationship with Woods has always been somewhat strained. “It’s been a while since he's been there and he will probably be a little bit nervous, too, which is normal. He's just got to deal with all those feelings again.”

The big guns have all been manoeuvring into position in the build-up and plenty have fired some early warning shots. Garcia himself was a winner earlier in the year in Singapore while the likes of Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Paul Casey, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson and Rory McIlroy have all flexed their muscles and claimed victories in 2018. The Woods renaissance, meanwhile, has led to back-to-back top-five finishes as the former world No 1 continues to prowl menacingly on leaderboards and give the global game even more of a wow factor.

“I think that every year, there's a good mix,” said Garcia of the abundant runners and riders. “There's always a good mix of young and old that come around. And players like me, the more experienced ones, we can still play the game and we can still do some good things.”

One of the many clichés that get trotted out at this time of the year is that you need experience to conquer Augusta’s bountiful challenges and nuances. “It’s like a double edged sword,” added Garcia. “I think that experience is obviously important because you know some of the places that you can hit it and you know some of the places where the ball is going to run one way or another. At the same time, the beautiful thing about not knowing too much about the course is that you haven't had too many bad experiences where you hit it in the water here or in the tree there or something like that. So, there's not as much scar tissue.”

Having made that major breakthrough a year ago, those of a superstitious nature often like to go through the similar routines which were part of their initial success. Whether it’s staying in the same rented house, eating the same food or wearing the same underwear – not every day of course – sporty folk like to cling to lucky omens. Garcia is not too fussy about all of that and now that he is a father, things have changed a bit. “We need a bigger house anyway,” he said. “I’m not that superstitious. The only thing I’d like to replicate is the Sunday.”