By Mark Garrod, PA Sport Golf Correspondent

Imagine starting the Masters by racing to six under par after 11 holes while nobody else was better than three under.

The stuff of dreams happened to Padraig Harrington at Augusta National last year. Yet amazingly, he can recall little of it.

"I can remember the 11th and that's it," insists the Irish Ryder Cup star. "I pulled my second shot and it pitched just over the water on the fringe of the green.

"Anybody who knows the hole knows there's not much fringe. It ran to about 20 feet and I made the putt."

Ask Harrington to try to cast his mind back to the earlier holes, though, and a fog comes over.

In fact, the Dubliner's other main memory from the day is going in the water at the 13th.

He continued: "I remember that all right. I had only a five or four iron, but it was a horrible tight, hanging lie. Things were going for me, so I went for it - in normal circumstances I don't think I would have done."

Harrington ran up a bogey six, dropped two more shots coming in and finished with a 69 to be two off the lead. Still a good day's work, but one that had threatened to be an unforgettable one.

He eventually finished the tournament back at six under par and joint fifth, six shots behind Tiger Woods. Again, a good week's work, but Harrington knows he is capable of better.

His memory loss proves his own point, though, that the stand-out Masters moments are of things going wrong as much as things going right.

"I can remember other shots I've hit in the Masters and lots of shots other players have hit," he says. "The thing about the Masters is that you tend to remember the bad shots, the disasters - Norman, Seve. Every time I play the 15th I think of Seve putting it in the water (in 1986).

"You have your own memories, but more than at any other course I think you have more memories of shots that other people hit. Woosie's drive over the bunker at the last - a phenomenal hit with a persimmon wood - and then his putt to win.

"It's amazing how many putts are holed by supposedly average putters in pressure situations. I'll never forget that putt.

"It's a unique course because it tests your mental ability as much as it tests your physical ability. You can strike the ball the best out there all day, but it's not all about that.

"There are so many factors - you've got to drive it long, hit your irons precisely, putt well, but most of all you've got to use your head properly.

"You can hit a great shot that finishes up in the worst place on the course and another time you can hit an average shot that spins down to the hole. It's taking the good with the bad.

"It really does test the mental side of the game and it really is quite a frustrating golf course.

"I like the week, though. Everything runs very smoothly and there's a great atmosphere for the spectators. Everybody's enjoying themselves and from the moment you walk in you realise you're part of something special.

"The first time I went in the clubhouse I was looking for familiar faces and the first table I see had some guys from the Golfing Union of Ireland and they were sitting with Sam Snead. That was unbelievable."

Harrington now returns as one of Europe's leading hopes, ready to lap up the atmosphere again, but desperately keen to shine.

Another fast start might just stir some more memories from last year - and this time good ones rather than bad ones.