The 2015 PGA Champion began working on his game at Augusta National since last Thursday and has spent most of that time fine-tuning a gear change that has seen him replace all his TaylorMade P-750 irons with the company’s sleeker P-730 blade irons.

Day made the 11th hour decision to switch clubs after the WGC-Dell Match Play where he failed to progress beyond the group stage. He says the high launch trajectory and high spin he was getting on the ball in Austin, was going to be unsuitable for Augusta.

“I think the preparation is huge coming to an event like this,” Day said. “I got here Thursday night, and I've been here the last few days, really kind of just fine tuning things and trying to adjust.

"I don't know what happened, but they performed okay last year and I went from an offset to an onset iron last year, which was my old set that I’m not using right now, but I just couldn't quite get the gain, the trajectory, and the control that I wanted to." – Jason Day

“I just put the new P‑730 blades in the bag, so I got a new set of irons. I wasn't quite happy with how I was hitting it at the Match Play. I was launching it a little bit higher and spinning a little bit too much, and most don't understand or realise that there is a lot of breeze here at times … you have to be able to control your trajectory and your spin.”

Day has started 2018 in much better form than what he displayed for most of 2017, with a victory at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open in January and a tie for second at Pebble Beach in his next start.

Day said the high ball flight he experienced at the Dell Match Play would hurt his chances at Augusta. PHOTO: Getty Images.

Despite this success, the one area where has struggled this year is hitting greens in regulation. He heads into this week’s Masters ranked No.106 on the PGA Tour for this stat category, which no doubt prompted Day to make the iron change. He says it is a change without any risks attached.

“I think it was the opposite. I think it's the other way around,” he said. “I think with how I was hitting my irons, I just didn't have the confidence with them.

“I don't know what happened, but they performed okay last year and I went from an offset to an onset iron last year, which was my old set that I’m not using right now, but I just couldn't quite get the gain, the trajectory, and the control that I wanted to.

“So hopefully with a little bit of a change, that could spark something.

“And you never know, hopefully I can come into a week like this and really hit a lot of greens and give myself opportunities.”

Day gets in some practice at Augusta ahead of the Masters start on Thursday. PHOTO: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.

With the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Bubba Watson all being mentioned in the conversation of Masters favourites, Day is happy to fly under the radar in what he describes as the most competitive Masters he has ever seen with the world’s best players seemingly all peaking at the same time.

“(Good) form is huge … but it can also be a double‑edged sword,” Day said. “You can have a very average start to the year and then all of a sudden you pop up and win.

“So weeks like this, and I always say weeks like major championships, it's all in the attitude you bring and the emotion as well, because the moment you start letting things get to you is the moment that you start making mental errors, and it gets to you.

“So … I would expect Tiger to play well this week. Obviously, off his previous finishes and what he's done over the last month or so. Expect Jordan Spieth to play well because of his previous experience here and his results and what he did last week at the Houston Open.

“But form is something where some guys like to play their way into it. That's why Phil played the last couple weeks and is playing here and he's trying different shots at the Houston Open.  And people are different, like me, who like to get here early and make sure that the swing is good to go, chipping feels nice and ready, and the putts have good touch.

“So saying that, it's difficult to peak. It's difficult to peak your body, difficult to peak your mind, and difficult to peak your game.  But once you get all those three in order, that's when you start to perform really great.

“For myself, I kind of try and write down things, what makes me feel good. If I eat something or do something the night before and I feel great the next day, well, what did I do?  So I try and find and come up with a blueprint to a certain degree to try and mimic that every single day so that I feel good and I know exactly what I need to do to feel good with my golf swing and my body.”

Day is the highest ranked of four Australians competing at Augusta National. Fellow Queenslanders Adam Scott and Cameron Smith as well as Victorian Marc Leishman round out the Aussie assault.