It might be a slight exaggeration to say that not a day has gone by without him thinking about it, but Padraig Harrington has certainly been longing for The Masters since last August.
Since the minute, in fact, that his eyes nearly burst out of their sockets, he condemned Sergio Garcia to another second place and he achieved something no European had done before - win back-to-back majors in the same year.
"I'm actually disappointed I'm seven months away from the next major, I don't know what I'm going to do," said Harrington.
What he has done, of course, is answer questions over and over again about his phenomenal Open and USPGA double and, of course, about the chance to do something even more astonishing at Augusta. It is a good job he likes talking.
The 37-year-old Dubliner has been in demand the world over ever since he won his first Open title at Carnoustie, but to convert that into three of the last six major titles almost defies belief.
Moments after completing his successful defence of The Open last July, Harrington expressed the magnitude of what he had just accomplished that day.
"You're in a special club when you've got two majors - and not too many guys wins back-to-back," he said.
Indeed they don't. The last European to achieve the feat at The Open was James Braid in 1906.
But better was to come.
Just three weeks later Harrington was holding the USPGA trophy as well after winning another duel with Garcia. And that lifted him into a totally different stratosphere.
No European had won that championship since Tommy Armour in 1930. No European had won consecutive majors since Armour added the 1931 Open. No player other than Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson had done it since Nick Price in 1994.
But now Augusta is finally almost upon him. The chance to make it three in a row - something only two golfers in history, Ben Hogan and Woods, have accomplished.
With Woods having focused on getting back fit for The Masters after being forced out of the game by reconstructive knee surgery following his staggering US Open triumph last June, the opening major of 2009 has more than one big story line.
There is also Greg Norman's return after seven years to the tournament that has given him so much heartache, courtesy of his remarkable performance at Birkdale, and there are the debuts of three teenagers - 19-year-old rising Irish star Rory McIlroy, New Zealand's 18-year-old US Amateur champion Danny Lee and 17-year-old Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa.
But Harrington knows he will never enter a major with so big a spotlight on him. Unless he wins again, of course. Imagine what it would be like approaching a 'Paddy Slam' attempt in the US Open at Bethpage in June.
"It's a lot easier to win tournaments when you're under the radar," he stated.
"I'm delighted that Tiger and Greg will be there, any deflection I can get would be great, but I know I will have more focus, which will make it harder to play my own game.
"I think it's going to come down to me managing my expectations better compared with other people's expectations, especially my start.
"In the past I never believed the expectations people had for me and my way of managing that was to underplay them.
"Yet when you become a major champion you put yourself under pressure to play to a higher standard.
"But what if someone else has the week of their life? As long as I stick to the same processes and keep getting myself into contention I am happy to see how it works out.
"It would be very easy getting caught up in the Thursday round in being cautious. People are asking you 'Are you going to win it?' and you're afraid of losing it.
"I think that's a silly way to start a tournament because you have to go out and win it. It's not yours to lose.
"I will prepare for the Masters as I would any other tournament. I will definitely spend time with (sports psychologist) Bob Rotella thinking about how I'm going to approach the tournament.
"The key is to get out there with a comfortable mindset. I'll try to take the result out of the equation and try not to think about winning or losing - but that's hard to do when people are asking you."
What he cannot prepare for, of course, is the unknown. But the unknown has helped him in all his major successes.
"In each of them something happened that I could not have bargained for," he added.
"At Carnoustie it was my son running onto the green on the 72nd hole and taking my mind off what had just happened.
"At Birkdale it was the wrist injury taking the stress out of defending my title, while at the USPGA I got dehydrated, but the rain delay on the Saturday gave me a chance to recover."
The two wins last year came with stunning displays on the back nine and the memory of those give him an edge over the vast majority of the field if he can get into position again.
"A major feels like a marathon. I feel like I can be patient and take my time.
"I love the feeling of knowing that it's going to come down to who can do it under pressure in the last nine holes.
"I love the idea of the back nine of a major on a Sunday."
And now everybody knows it.
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