TYRRELL HATTON knew exactly what he had to do to improve on his dismal Masters debut lose the purple putter!
Hatton, 26, went into Augustaon a high last year after impressive showings in his previous two Major outings.
The Brit was fifth at The Open and claimed a top-ten finish in the USPGA Championship.
But he came crashing back down to earth, shooting grim rounds of 80 and 78 to finish 90th in the 93-man field.
It was a sobering experience for Hatton, 26, who went on to miss the cut in the next three Majors.
However, he finished the year in a blaze of glory with back-to-back victories in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and the Italian Open.
That lifted the feisty High Wycombe golfer back into the worlds top 20.
And he forms part of a Three Lions attack force along with fellow English twentysomethings Tommy Fleetwood and Matthew Fitzpatrick who are determined to get their own back on Augusta.
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Hatton said: I was shell-shocked by what happened last year, to be honest.
I kept wanting to turn the leaderboard upside down so it wouldnt look so bad!
It wasnt like I wasnt trying, because Im proud of the fact you have to nail me down to keep me there.
Ive always had the attitude that you never give up no matter just how hopeless things are looking.
Impressionist Conor Moore nails golf's biggest names ahead of MastersI just didnt handle the conditions well enough and struggled from start to finish. And it was hard to get out of that rut.
If there is one thing I could change it was deciding to go with a new putter that week. With hindsight, that might not have been a great idea.
No, strike that it was a big mistake.
It was the same shape I normally use but it was purple.
Purple is my favourite colour and I loved the look of it.
"But I didnt love the way it performed. It just didnt give me the same feel as what I was using earlier in the year.
Its in the garage now, gathering dust. I wont be using it in the foreseeable future because of the bad memories.
But Ive gone back to my original putter, which seems to be performing to the expected standard.
And the goal is to play a whole lot better in the Majors this year.
Fleetwood, 27, also missed the cut as a Masters rookie, although he performed slightly better than Hatton with rounds of 78 and 74.
He returns as European No1 after seeing off Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Rory McIlroy to win the Race to Dubai. And he has prepared much better this time.
The Southport star said: I cant wait to get started again. I felt the course got the better of me last year, so Im looking forward to the challenge it poses of trying to peak at the right time.
I just didnt adapt well enough to the greens last year and that was partly down to the weather.
Jordan Spieth in ominous form for Masters as he skips the ball across the pond at Augustas hole 16I wasnt feeling well either and I just didnt get enough done on and around those greens.
The practice round was cut short one day, then on the Wednesday it was so bad that the par-three was cancelled.
I didnt get anything done before that.
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So it definitely didnt go in my favour, time-wise. But I knew from that I had to do more to get the know the course.
I came here to Augusta last week and played four practice rounds, so I know a lot more about what to expect now.
The big challenge is all about those greens, the pace and the slopes.
I lost a lot of shots last year that were just down to putting poorly.
But it does have a wow factor as well. It takes some getting used to.
There are putts that can really scare you and theres certain positions where you just cant hit it. So you have to get over that.
Fitzpatrick, 23, did make the cut last year but his 32nd-place finish was a big step backward after he finished joint seventh a year earlier.
Tiger Woods says this year is going to be different as he prepares for The Masters 2018As one of the best putters in Europe, and already a four-time European Tour winner, he is determined to put himself into contention for a Green Jacket.
And Fitzpatrick hopes the forecast for good weather will mean the greens areLIGHTNING.
He said: Ive been here three times now, once as the US amateur champion, and I just love the greens at Augusta.
Theres a lot of hype about them but the worst thing that you can do when you play the course is slip into panic mode.
I think Ive created a good plan for putting these greens.
They werent that fast during last years tournament, which was disappointing.
But, hopefully, that wont be the case this time.
The faster, the better, as far as I am concerned.