Marc Leishman stood over his second shot on the 15th in the final round of last year’s Masters with his destiny in his hands.

As it turned out, after leading on day one and clinging valiantly to his top-four berth throughout, the Warrnambool Pro "chunked" – ever so slightly – a five-iron approach on the tempting par-5 and watched his green jacket dream run back into a watery grave.

Today, as he sat in the Augusta National locker-room, Leishman reflected proudly on the moment, saying he’d taken plenty from a decision he made for all the right reasons.

"I’ve thought about it a lot and not once have I wished I hit the longer club (his choice was between four and five iron)," the world No.69 said.

"But not once have I thought I should have hit four and tried to make par. If I hit the four it would have gone over the back and then you’ve got a tough chip.

"If I hit the five like I wanted to, and didn’t chunk it, it’s gonna be close. So I was playing to win the tournament and not to try to finish third.

"A four may or may not have made birdie, but I would have only been one shot better and I wouldn’t have won the tournament.

"If I hit a good shot and it goes close and I make eagle, then who knows?

"I’ve thought about it a lot and I’m still happy with my decision. I just didn’t pull the shot off.

"I hit it about 80 per cent. It was just fat enough (to go in the water).

"If I hit it 90 per cent it would have gone to the back of the green and been pretty good.

"But it was chunky enough that it was right on the edge. It flew over and came back in. I was thinking, `Jeez, this might land on the front edge, but it might do what it did’.

"The ball was above my feet, I was on a bit of a bump in the fairway and I just didn’t quite pull it off.

"I just needed half a groove better and it was a completely different story. It might not have been good enough in the end, I was 6-under playing that hole and it might have got me to eight and I was trying to get to nine (under to get into a playoff)."

Leishman said he doesn’t beat himself up over the moment.

"No, not at all. I was playing to win, but I just didn’t pull it off.

"It wasn’t anyone’s fault but my own. I said to Matty (caddie Matt Kelly) that club was my decision to hit.

"I’m not sour about it or anything. I still had a great week, I just didn’t win."

Leishman said "great memories" came flooding back to him when he returned to Augusta this week – a far cry from the beating he took after he missed the cut in his first appearance in 2010.

"You walk in last year and at my first Masters a little bit intimidated.

"This year I walk in with my chest out a little bit more to know it’s `doable’ to have a high finish if you play well," he said.

"Obviously you’ve gotta play well, like any tourmament, but I walk in here feeling really good and excited about what might come of it."

And he said the fans had already reacted differently during his practice time in the past few days.

"Last year I was walking around and you hear. `Oh, who’s that?’ and this year it’s, `Oh, there’s Leishman’.

"That stuff is not a huge thing, but it still makes you feel good knowing that people remember what you did last year, even though you didn’t win."

Leishman stunned the golfing world when he turned in his opening-round 66.

But as time passes, he says he learned more from the next three rounds.

"They were all important because if you took out the first round I obviously wouldn’t have been where I was," he reflected.

"But I think they were almost better scores than the first round because the first round you go out free, you’re loose and just trying to play well and see what happens.

"Then when you get in it you’ve got all that pressure and a lot of people watching here and at home and it’s good to know I could handle the pressure and play well in tough conditions because they were pretty tough last year.

"Now I’ve got that belief. And I learnt a lot — I did hit it in spots you don’t want to be, but that’s how you learn around here. You hit it in those spots and hopefully it doesn’t cost you a double or a triple, only a bogey.

"I was able to do that and not hit it in many of those spots, so it was nice to know I could pull off the shots I wanted to hit under that pressure."

More important lessons, though, came from his final-group pairing with eventual champion and good mate Adam Scott.

"It was great to be there, it was," Leishman said.

"One, because I got a front-row seat to watch Scotty. But the best thing about it is I got to learn a lot from what he did.

"And knowing that he played really well, but he did make some mistakes, but the only difference was that he made some really good putts and holed the ones he needed to hole and I wasn’t.

"I learnt from that and I feel like even if I’d shot a higher round last year, I’m better for seeing how he did it and how he handled himself. He’d been there before and you could tell that.

"I felt a lot more comfortable than I thought I would, but I feel like if I get in that situation again this year, I’ll be a lot better for it and be able to handle myself better again.

"Hopefully I will be in that position again this week."

The International Team representative at last year’s Presidents Cup said the growing feeling around Australia’s seven-strong Masters charge was inspiring.

And with a string of three wins in four weeks – by Matt Jones, Steve Bowditch and John Senden — on the PGA TOUR, the Aussies are pumped for more success.

"Especially with the way the boys are playing this year. Jonesy, Bowdo, Scotty almost at Bay Hill and Sendo – it’s a pretty good run and hopefully we can keep it going," Leishman said.

"We’ll definitely be giving it a red-hot crack."

Leishman said he was carrying in "very similar" form to the Masters as he had been last year.

"I’ve been playing OK but the results haven’t been there. Last year I wasn’t playing very well.

"But I’m feeling really good, like I’ve been really close to scoring really well. Hopefully this will be a good week to start it.

"In the past, aside from Bay Hill, I haven’t played that well in Florida, really, so it hasn’t concerned me that I didn’t do well in February and March.

"But coming up here the next few months I really like the course and I like when the weather warms up. Hopefully I can start a run here."