Irishman Shane Lowry has declared he is 'playing probably the best golf' of his life, heading into his Portugal Masters defense.
Lowry, 26, is the defending champion at the Oceanico Victoria Golf Course in Algarve, starting Thursday, and is flying after finishing tied for third at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in late September.
He has not added to his Masters win--his second on the European Tour--but is confident of using the positive memories of his one-stroke victory last year to propel him to another piece of silverware come Sunday.
LEADERBOARD: Portugal Masters scores via GolfDigest.com
"There's loads of memories," Lowry said.
"I played the front nine yesterday and just remembered shots that I hit and things I did.
"It's all good memories and I'll play the pro-am today (Wednesday) and I'm sure the memories will come flooding back walking down the last few holes. It's all good."
Lowry was carrying no burden of expectations heading into the tournament--where he has been paired with Ricardo Santos and Jose Maria Olazabal in the opening round.
"People say there's a lot of pressure being a defending champion but you've got to look at the positives and say, 'I won round this course last year so there's no reason why I can't give myself the chance to do it again'," Lowry said.
"That's the frame of mind I'm going with this week.
The Irishman added: "I played great at Dunhill and I've been playing good of late as well.
"So I definitely have a lot of confidence going on, I just need to try and hold back a little bit and not get too far ahead of myself.
"I'll take the first shot tomorrow and see what happens after that."
Portuguese soccer legend Luis Figo joined the pro-am field and the 40-year-old said he learnt plenty from playing partner Paul Lawrie.
"For us (amateurs) it is fast, for Paul today the green wasn't very fast," Figo said of the course.
"It is always amazing to see how easily the top players play and you always try and learn from them.
"This is very difficult when it is a sport that you do not dominate but I think this was a fantastic day for me, to share this experience with them."