Martin Kaymer will be hoping to make as big an impact in his latest appearance at the Portugal Masters as he did in his first when he returns to Oceånico Victoria Golf Course for the sixth time this week.
The event made its European Tour International Schedule debut in 2007 and Kaymer took no time in making himself comfortable on the Algarve, firing an opening 61 on his way to a tie for seventh in the season when he won the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award.
The German has since gone on to great things, winning two Major Championships, climbing his way to World Number One and winning the Race to Dubai in 2010.
That tie for seventh eight years ago is still his highest finish at the Portugal Masters, however, although the 30 year old is confident he knows the key to scoring well this week.
"I think it was a few years back, I shot a very low one here," he said.
So I enjoy that golf course. It's one of those where when you hit the fairway, you have a lot of chances so you need to be very patient - Martin Kaymer
"Once you hit it in the rough, it can get very tricky but you need to take advantage of the par fives because if you hit the fairways there then you have only a long iron into the green - or on the fifth hole you have a wood into the green - but the rest is very playable.
"You just need to hit the fairways."
He added: "It was raining a lot on the week. I think they were not expecting it would grow that much so they got a couple inches more than usual, but I enjoy that. It makes it tougher and it's never really a putting competition here.
"It's even more important to hit the fairways and maybe even take a club less from the tee in order to avoid the rough."
Kaymer has split his time between Europe and the United States in recent seasons but he is now back on this side of the pond and admits he is enjoying home comforts.
"It's nice to stay home and actually get home on Sunday night and sleep in your own bed, maybe for one or two nights, even though you played two or three weeks in a row, it breaks it up a little bit and I did miss it," he said. "The last month and a half or so, it's been very good."
While the 11-time European Tour winner may be now settled back nearer to home, a friend's wedding across the Atlantic has led to a globetrotting build-up to this week's event, not that Kaymer believes it will affect his form.
"A friend of mine, he got married in Los Angeles, so I flew there on Friday,arrived Friday afternoon, stayed Saturday for the wedding and flew out Sunday again and arrived here Monday," he said.
"It was a tough one, especially last week. I had three sponsor days and then Friday obviously I went to LA. It's been a long and tiring week but I slept fairly well last night and we have one more night to go until I have to tee it up tomorrow.
"And it's a golf course that I enjoy to play, so with some patience, I think I can do well."
