As is his wont, Steve Bowditch had the assembled media in hysterics.

One of the 2014 avalanche of Australian winners on the PGA TOUR, Bowditch was right in his element fielding questions from American reporters about just what makes the Aussie golf factory tick.

He told them he’d caddie for his father at Tewantin-Noosa as a young lad in the Saturday club comp, and then he’d rush out to play nine holes afterwards while his dad chilled in the clubhouse.

He told them he’d hit balls until all hours at home until his mother called him for dinner, then he’d come inside and play with the classic plastic golf balls and "try to break a few windows".

Doing his best to make things easier for the American reporters, he tried to describe them as
"waffle balls".

As they giggled at him and realising his error, he corrected it to "wiffle", but then tried to Australianise it even further. Emphasis on "tried".

"We just call them balls with holes in them."

Which just about brought the famous oak tree, outside the Augusta National clubhouse, down with laughter.

Typically, he couldn’t have cared less.

Which typifies the attitude, in a positive way, that has finally brought the immensely talented Queenslander to The Masters.

He stood on the 17th tee in San Antonio two weeks ago, leading the Texas Open and on the verge of his first win on golf’s biggest stage – and his ticket to Augusta.

A heckler told him not to hit the ball left just as he began his backswing.

Bowditch, somehow, walked away, recomposed himself and went through his entire routine again.

Admittedly he blocked the drive right but still made the par that ultimately sealed that long-awaited victory.

"I didn’t hit it left … so I did what I was told," Bowditch joked.

"You’ve just got to kind of regroup as best you can and go on from there.

"A lot of people asked me how I dealt with the pressure on those closing few holes when things were right there in front of me.

"The truth is, I was dealing with it the whole way round. I’ve finally figured out how to deal with a few of the things in those situations, so yeah, I was nervous, but it was for the full round and I dealt with it really well, I reckon."

Bowditch said there hadn’t been much hype in the United States – "I was brought back to earth pretty quickly missing the cut last week (in Houston)" – about his maiden Masters appearance, but that he’d been inundated with messages from home.

"It was unbelievable. I was getting thousands of emails and thousands of text messages — and plenty of bet slips telling me about all the money they had won," he continued with his jokes.

Bowditch was then taken on trip down memory lane when probed again about why Australia had produced so many world-ranked players.

"Where I grew up (in Noosa), it was $70 for the year and you could play as much as you want as a junior," he said.

"Everyone can play (as opposed to the USA) and it’s great to be able to rock out there in an afternoon and always see kids around and it’s great to see.

"There have been a lot of people in my golfing life that got me to this point. I started out with Nick Tonga, who sort of taught me the real basics and then when I moved to Tewantin-Noosa, Shane Healey was a great help to me.

"Then out to Kooralbyn where Barry West was really the one who took me from the junior level to a Professional, do-it-for-a-living level.

"Then I’ve also had Peter Heiniger at Coolum and now (American) Scott Hamilton. You don’t get to anywhere in this sport without great help.

"I think that’s the thing actually that I’ve realised, too, now. I’m finally playing for my family, those around me and not myself. They’re everything to me."

And just as Bowditch was getting a tad emotional, he snapped it back to the comedy with which he deals best when asked of his arrival at Augusta National for the first time on the rained-out Monday practice session.

"A police officer pulled out in front of me and I thought, ‘Man, don’t crash on Magnolia Lane’," he joked.

"But it was a cool moment just driving up there and seeing the clubhouse. It was a cool moment.

"The Masters music for some reason always sticks in my mind. It’s the first thing that comes to mind. I was hoping they’d have some speakers around, but there’s no speakers around."

It’s about as far removed from standing on the old 16th tee at Tewantin and smashing balls as far as possible down the par-5.

"It is. Those were fun times playing pennants with all the boys. I always miss it; I love the team sport and love the Sunday mornings.

"I miss it a lot but … I am really glad I’ve come a little further and now we are standing out here under the oak tree at Augusta."

And, for once, there’s no punchline.