World number one Scottie Scheffler admitted he would be a "pretty miserable person" if he allowed his bad golf to define him.
The four-time major winner has, by his high standards, endured something of a dip in form since backing up victory in his first event of the year with successive top-four places.
His three events since have been characterised by late tournament comebacks after poor first rounds – he has not broken 70 in his first 18 holes since that win at The American Express in January – but even then his finishes have been tied 12th, tied 24th and tied 22nd.
But he feels comfortable at Augusta – "Once you drive down Magnolia Lane, everything else melts away" – where he has won in two of his last four appearances.
"Most of the time in golf, you're probably going to be a little bit disappointed at the end of the week just because there's only one winner and there’s a lot more losers than that," he said.
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"I would say it’s always been a battle for me trying to strike a balance between continuing to work hard, staying competitive and also not having either my good golf or my bad golf define me.
"If I let my bad golf define me, I’d be a pretty miserable person.
"If I let my good golf define me, whether or not it’s a green jacket or an Open Championship, then I’d walk around pretty arrogant all the time and I wouldn’t be very nice to people because I think I’m hot stuff because I won a few golf tournaments."
On comparing his recent form to previous years going into the tournament, he added: "That’s a tough one. I try not to look too far in the past, I try not to look too far in the future.
"For me to think about that, that would take a little bit of work, which I don’t want to do right now."
Scheffler will be looking to reclaim the honour of the green jacket, having twice had it taken away from him – by Rory McIlroy last year and Jon Rahm in 2023.
He was asked how much easier he thought it was to win the Masters as a former champion, as opposed to successfully defending your title – which only Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods have done.
"I think defending can always be difficult but I think that’s mostly just the odds of winning a tournament in back-to-back years," he added.
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"That’s just extremely challenging, especially when you look at these major championships.
"There are some obligations and like at this tournament, there’s some stuff that’s completely new. I think everything’s new when you’re a first-time defending (champion) here.
"You host the (champions) dinner, that’s a big deal. There’s certain things that go on that maybe would make it a touch more difficult, but I wouldn’t say it’s anything too substantial."
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