Mickelson - defending champion (Getty Images).

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If ever there was a hard act to follow in recent golfing times then Phil Mickelson's duel with Ernie Els at last year's Masters was it.

Two superstars chasing their first victory at Augusta put on a show which will live long in the memory.

"It was incredible - that Sunday was the most special Sunday afternoon stroll that I've ever had," said Els. "It was just electric. A wonderful afternoon."

You might think from that Els won. But despite two eagles and a three-stroke lead after the second of them at the 13th, he did not.

Mickelson, with 17 top-10 finishes in majors to his name yet not one win, finally got to taste triumph - thanks to five birdies in the last seven holes, the last of them a closing 20-footer.

When the 69th Masters starts on Thursday, though, there is every reason for suspecting the 72 holes could be even more engrossing.

The same two players went close in the other three majors last year, but neither is world number one or number two. Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods hold those two positions and whenever talk of the 'Fab Four' arises then people are quick to point out that US Open champion Retief Goosen is no mean performer either.

Quieter maybe, but titles are decided by shots, not noise.

As Mickelson's short-game coach Dave Pelz said: "I am absolutely convinced there has never been five players of the quality of Vijay, Tiger, Ernie, Phil and Retief all at the top of their games at the same time.

"I think this year is going to be the greatest I can imagine. If these guys can get their games near top form so that their hearts and expertise mentally can be a big part of it we'll have the best year of the majors in the history of the world."

That is asking a lot, of course. And it is only two weeks ago that, when all eyes were on them at the Players Championship in Florida as well, Singh and Goosen finished 12th, Els 17th, Mickelson 40th and Woods 53rd, his worst placing in any tournament for over six years.

But Augusta National is not Sawgrass. It is a big hitter's paradise and all five are big hitters.

It also ought to be remembered that the last 11 majors have been won by 11 different players, including Ben Curtis, ranked 396th in the world at the time, Shaun Micheel, who was 169th, Todd Hamilton and Rich Beem.

But nowhere does the cream rise to the top so much as down Magnolia Drive.

Three of Woods' eight majors have been Masters titles and Singh and Mickelson have had the greatest moments of their careers here too.

With two US Opens and one Open nobody has to feel too sorry for Els, but it is impossible to overstate how much he wants to win a green jacket and how agonisingly close he has come to it. His last five finishes were second, sixth, fifth, sixth and second.

"If you give yourself just one opportunity to win here I think you've done very well," he said. "Obviously I've given myself numerous opportunities. It hasn't happened yet for me, but obviously winning is the ultimate.

"All I can do is try to prepare myself to the best of my ability and have another go. Hopefully it's this year."

Majors are almost always won and lost by tiny margins. The last two went to play-offs, the previous four were in doubt until the final hole.

What has been missing from all but the first of those - the 2003 Open at Sandwich when Thomas Bjorn lost to Curtis from three ahead with four to play - was European involvement in the closing stages.

The last winner remains Paul Lawrie at the 1999 Open. Twenty-one have come and gone since then, making it the longest barren spell since the nine-year gap between Tony Jacklin's 1970 US Open victory and Seve Ballesteros' first Open title in 1979.

A golden era followed. Ballesteros won two Masters and two more Opens, Nick Faldo three of each, Sandy Lyle one of each, Bernhard Langer and Jose Maria Olazabal two Masters each and Ian Woosnam one.

Lawrie's win made it 19 majors in 21 years. Now it is none for nearly six.

But during that time Europe have twice won the Ryder Cup, last September by a record margin. And five of that team - Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood and Luke Donald - have achieved US Tour victories.

Moreover, in the last four weeks in America Harrington has won and Graeme McDowell, Donald and Olazabal have all finished second.

McDowell and Donald are among the Masters rookies this year and the only debutant to have won since Gene Sarazen in 1935 was Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.

The greatest barrier, though, is not history, but Singh, Woods, Els, Mickelson and Goosen. Last year was indeed a hard act to follow.

But Augusta has managed that before - 12 months after Jack Nicklaus grabbed his record sixth win with a back-nine 30 Larry Mize chipped in, followed by Sandy Lyle's last-green birdie and then Faldo's two play-off thrillers and Woosnam's glorious moment.

And if we thought that Ben Crenshaw's tears in 1995 were hard to cap, Faldo's five-shot win after he began the last day six behind Greg Norman was the ultimate in drama.

Then along came Woods in his first major as a professional to win by 12 before Olazabal recovered from crippling injury to win again.

The list goes on and on. And this should be some week too.