Pros advice

I see on Twitter that you have received your Masters invite?

Yes, it came through just after the new year. I think I’ll put it in a frame along with a load of other stuff I got through. They send it through to your management company and they forwarded it on to me.

Your manager sends you a text every Monday with your world ranking. So you have known since the Dunhill win, when you climbed to 33 in the world, that you would be playing at Augusta?

Yes, he messages me telling me where I am. After the Dunhill I was fairly certain that I was going to get in, then having a good week in Dubai (when Hatton was second behind Fitzpatrick) basically sealed it. It’s exciting moving forward knowing all the tournaments I’m going to be playing this year.

It’s a very different start to the year being firmly ensconced in the top 50 in the world…

Yes, after Dubai I will be flying out to the States for three months. Last year I did the Desert Swing, then Malaysia and then I was home for two months.

How are you going to prepare for the Masters?

I am planning to go out there a few weeks before, just to have a few practice rounds so when I get to Augusta on the Sunday I am not going to be in awe of the place but it is still going to be really special. Hopefully I’ll get the initial excitement out of my system after I’ve played a few rounds and I know where I’m going.

What is your earliest memory of watching the Masters?

Tiger Woods in 1997 so I would have been five. Twenty years ago… I am most excited to play the 12th and all the challenges that it brings but I guess you can’t really appreciate until you play it. The whole course looks so immaculate and the whole of Amen Corner will be very special.

What did you make of Danny Willett winning last year?

I was doing a golf day for Hilton in Spain and we managed to watch the end of it, obviously it was great for English golf and everything going forward. I don’t understand why people would say that they were surprised he won. He was 12th in the world at the start of the week so it baffled me when people said that.

Presumably you will let your dad (and coach) caddie for you in the Par 3?

After everything he has done for me, I am going to have him caddie for me and let him tee off on the 9th. He’s coached me since I was 11 and we have done OK and work well together. We haven’t changed my swing in nine years, if things go slightly off then we go back to the basics. Keeping things simple is good for me because I am not overly technical as that stuff just fries my brain. The simpler the better for me.

You have some strange golfing superstitions, don’t you?

It’s really weird. Sometimes I’ll mark the scorecard and on the next hole I’ll make a bogey. So I’ll go through a phase of not marking the scorecard for like 10 holes.

Are you generally superstitious?

No, but maybe I think differently on the golf course.

Are you a different person on and off the course?

Yes I think so. I mean I would say I come across on the course probably quite intense and stuff but off it I’m pretty relaxed, pretty shy.

You said that the tournaments you’ve played well in were due to a balanced mind. Was that the key to last year?

Obviously there were a few times where I was really frustrated. We all make mistakes but the key is that we learn from them. The majority of last year I did better because that’s obviously one of the issues I had.

You changed your caddie at the beginning of the year to Chris Rice. How much did that help and how big a part did he play in your success?

I’ve got a lot of trust in him and we had a fantastic first year together. In Scotland I was going out in the final round leading by three and he had been in that position plenty of times so that certainly helped. We all focus a lot on who is winning and who has not won.