It’s a week off on the European Tour and most of the big names in the game have already crossed the Atlantic with the first major of the season, the Masters at Augusta National, starting next Thursday.

With the Masters, the golf season starts in earnest. The top stars, who may have skipped a lot of events at the beginning of the year — most of them doing so to prepare well for the second week of April — will turn up for the most coveted prize in golf, and they will have no excuse from here on until the end of the season.

Such is the status of the tournament, conceived by the legendary Bobby Jones, there is no way you can just turn up and hope for the best. Augusta National requires as much planning and preparation as waging a big war, and the four rounds are nothing short of battles.

You have got to be physically in great condition and mentally refreshed and alive. Your game has to be in top shape and you have got to have a blueprint of exactly how you are going to plot your moves on the golf course.

Small things matter a lot at the Masters. To give you just one example, take the 16th hole — the short par-3 over water with the green sloping down towards the hazard. Even the slightest change in the pin position will affect your shot selection and even your club choice.

Because there are so many course management details that you need to learn, it is very easy to understand why rookies hardly ever win the Masters and why experience is such a big thing. Such are the intricacies of the golf course that most of the time you have to keep in mind on which side you want to miss a shot, rather than where you want to hit the shot.

However, with some of the regular contenders at Augusta National not having the best of starts to the season, I have a feeling a 20-something might spring a surprise this year.

Of course, that group also includes the reigning world No. 1 Rory McIlroy. His game, ever since he started playing on the PGA Tour this year, has not been the best, but he has still managed two top-11 finishes. As I said last week, all eyes are on him, but if Rory stumbles, there are so many players in his age group that can contend for the Green Jacket.

Jordan Spieth was mighty impressive last year and that performance is going to stand him in good stead this year. Patrick Reed is playing some great golf, while Dustin Johnson, who is just 30, has made a sensational comeback after his self-imposed exile from the game.

And, of course, we cannot forget Rickie Fowler in any big tournament after the massive year he had in 2014, in which he finished inside the top-five of all four majors.

I also expect a good show from India’s Anirban Lahiri, not only because he is in good form, but more because he is a very intelligent golfer, who makes good plans and executes them well. He showed it in his Open Championship debut and I am sure Augusta National will be no different.

— Jeev Milkha Singh is a four time champion on the European Tour