By Julian Linden
AUGUSTA, Georgia, April 3 (Reuters) – Twelve months after
his stunning victory in the Masters, Charl Schwartzel is back at
Augusta National and feeling confident about his chances and
determined to prove his win was no fluke.
The South African said he felt a sudden tingle in his spine
when he drove down Magnolia Lane, the short road that leads to
the Augusta National clubhouse, as the memories of his amazing
victory came flooding back.
But rather than be overawed by his ability to triumph at the
Masters in only his second attempt, Schwartzel felt a calming
surge of confidence that he could do it again.
“I have a different mind-set coming into this event knowing
that you’ve won,” he told a news conference on Tuesday.
“I almost expect myself to win. I feel like I’m playing good
enough. I feel like if I’ve done it before, why can’t I do it
again.”
Schwartzel was presented with the winner’s green jacket
after producing the greatest finish in the 75-year history of
the Masters, making birdies on each of the last four holes to
clinch his first major title by two shots.
His life changed forever but not everything has gone
according to plan for the 27-year-old since then. Although he
has played consistently well and finished in the top 16 at each
of the next three majors, he has been unable to reproduce his
brilliant finish at the Masters.
He has not won a won a tournament since last year’s Masters
and comes into the first major of 2012 after missing the cut at
his last two PGA Tour events.
“It has been pretty overwhelming. My life basically changed
overnight,” he said.
“When I got back home, I didn’t realise how big it was, how
many people actually saw it. Wherever I went, people
congratulated, and still do. It doesn’t seem to ease down. It
doesn’t stop, and it’s fantastic.”
As the defending champion, one of Schwartzel’s final
responsibilities ahead of the April 5-8 Masters is to host the
annual champions dinner at Augusta National, which includes
selecting the menu.
He opted for a braai, a traditional South African barbecue,
and had planned to do all the cooking himself until he thought
better of it.
“I don’t want to get too much oil on my green jacket,
either,” he joked. “To be honest, I am nervous and very excited.
I’m going to be around obviously past champions and legends that
I never got to see play.
“We see the highlights of how these guys did it, and I’m
going to be in a room with them. I think it’s going to be an
unbelievable evening.”
Schwartzel found a South African in Georgia who helped him
get some of the traditional foods for the braai, including
biltong, a cured meat similar to beef jerky, but said he had to
give some reassurance to the Augusta National chefs after
including monkey gland sauce on the menu.
“It’s got nothing related to the name,” he said. There’s no
monkey and there’s no gland.
“It is a sauce that’s pretty familiar in South Africa in all
the restaurants. You put it over your meat. It’s a bit of
chutney Worcester sauce and some onion.”
(Editing by Frank Pingue)
