As the PGA Tour continues on from the Florida Swing to the match play in Texas, it’s just a few short weeks until it rumbles into Georgia for the 80th Masters at Augusta National. And I already have goose bumps just thinking about it.

It got me thinking. Why is this tournament so special? Why is it so emotionally impactful on golfers, like myself? I can hardly concentrate on the current golf events with Augusta looming less than a month away. Why is this?

It’s probably because I have so many moments, highlights and memories from the Masters over the years; ones I share with many golf fans, and ones I’d like to share with you, the readers. I have to confess I’ve seen my fair share of this golf tournament, over 35 I can remember. But then again it’s my favorite major championship by far — I’m a Masters-holic!

The Annual Augusta National Invitational Tournament is all about tradition: the simple invite posted out to the players, the Par-3 Contest, Magnolia Lane and the Champion’s Dinner (what’s on the menu this year Jordan?). From the opening tee shot hit by a former Master to the Amateurs staying in the Crow’s Nest and the “Augusta” theme music welcoming the millions of golf fans tuning in from all over the world. Yes, I’m already humming it!

The drama when the leaders go through Amen Corner on the back nine on Sunday with Rae’s Creek meandering quietly, while simultaneously causing havoc. I’ll be sitting on the edge of my seat at around 9 p.m. in Ireland (+5 hours) screaming at my TV!

And that famous walk up the last hole, named Holly, on Sunday to the 18th green. We sit and watch the presentation of the Green Jacket to the winner by the previous year’s winner in the Butler Cabin. It’s all wonderful history stemming from Jones’ vision in creating the tournament, the one that all the Pros want to play in. I can’t imagine anyone turning down an invite unless injured. It’s always got the best field of the year.

I can’t truly recall my earliest Master’s memory, but I do remember Seve winning his first Green Jacket in 1980. I was only 13 then, but that was an amazing moment for me. He really shook up the golfing world the same way Palmer did in the 60s and Tiger did in the 90s. I remember Faldo winning back-to-back, and Crenshaw’s amazingly emotional week, the week after he carried Penick’s coffin in 1995. I remember Jack’s amazing back-nine surge with that massive, bloody MacGregor putter; I think everyone went out and bought one the following day. How about Freddie winning in 1992, where his tee shot at No. 12 came up short and started rolling down into Rae’s Creek, only for the golfing Gods to stop it miraculously on a few extra blades of grass. Freddie has been a favorite at Augusta ever since then.

Sandy Lyle’s outrageous 7-iron picked off clean as a whistle from the bunker on No. 18 to set up a winning birdie in 1988. And it was the Welshman Ian Woosnam’s in 1991 blasting it over the very same bunker with his driver, taking it out of play and going on to hole that putt iconically captured on film wearing those red plaid trousers!

My favorite year was 1985 when my golfing idol Bernhard Langer won. It was a great night, with my two brothers and I huddled round the TV late in Ireland. Seve, Ray Floyd and Langer were all in the hunt, and while my brothers were rooting for their men I was cheering on the German. So there was extra satisfaction when Bernhard pulled it off. His 8-iron on No. 17 to 10 feet and the subsequent birdie effectively sealed the deal.

And what about Woods’ total domination at his inaugural Masters after a shaky front nine? He changed the way course designers had to think from that week on to cater for the modern day “bomb and gouge” game. He owned this tournament for over a decade.

How about one of the most famous shots in golf, Nike’s marketing dream of him holing that crucial chip on the 16th with the Nike Swoosh logo hovering on the edge of the hole before it toppled in? Amazing stuff. It’s a pity he probably won’t be around this year.

But there have been plenty of other standout moments. O’Meara sliding in a putt on No. 18 to win. Lefty getting his reward for knocking on the door so many times. He should have won more — no one has hit as many spectacular shots as him. Remember that 6-iron he thundered out of the pine straw from the trees on No. 13? He stuck it to 3 feet and then missed the damn putt!

Who can forget the Jason Day/Charl Schwartzel duel, with the South African making birdies the last four holes to win. And what about Bubba’s ridiculous slingshot wedge from the trees? No one will ever know how good that shot was, probably not even Bubba himself.

Let’s not forget the disasters? Norman’s back-nine collapse to hand it to Faldo. Or how about local boy Larry Mize’s impossible chip in on No. 11 to snatch it from Norman yet again. The White Shark probably holds the title of Closest, but no cigar to getting a Green Jacket. And what about McIlroy’s implosion in 2011, starting with that snap hook off No. 10? At least he appears to have learned from that “harshest of lessons” when it would have destroyed many others careers.

I’ll always remember Curtis Strange standing over his second shot on No. 13 on Sunday in 1985. He spent ages deciding what to do and eventually decided to take the second shot on with a fairway wood. The commentators were screaming at him to put it away and lay up. And of course the ball got wet, along with his chances of victory. I clearly remember his shocked look as the ball came back into the water, hands on hips hips shaking his head. It must have looked good to him, but as we know even the slightest degree offline on the National is punished mercilessly. I guess that was a lesson in risk taking at Augusta that many more have graduated in.

Other disasters? Remember Seve’s duck hook into the pond on No. 15 in 1986 on what sadly turned out to be his last realistic attempt at winning. And how about all those who had one arm already into a Green Jacket only for it to be removed. Arnie taking a six at the last to lose it. “Ahhgghhh!” Kenny Perry bogeying the last two holes and then losing a playoff to Angel in 2009. Scott Hoch missing a tiddler? Car Crash TV!

But let’s not forget the perennial winner each year, the course itself. It always looks spectacular in bloom and blemish-free, made to look even better on our HD televisions. Regular watchers know the course pretty well, so everyone wants to know what changes have been made for this year. A new tee, a relaid green, how’s the rough, what the greens will be running on the stimp… And I wonder how hard they are going to set it up this year? It always draws criticism with impossible pin placements, shaved greens and slopes down to the creeks to catch an over-hit or under-hit shot, punishing the 95-percent-or-less shot. Yes, we’ll hear from a bunch of pros who will complain that the course is tricked up. But the members don’t want to see the course being ripped apart. They want to see some pain and tears. It’s kinda like the masses baying for blood at the Colosseum to see a top pro running up a snowman.

So for me it doesn’t really matter who wins this year. As long as it’s an exciting tournament. And this year it is promising to be a great one. So many top players are hitting form at the right time, and everyone is out to stop Rory from winning his own personal Grand Slam of Majors. Yes, I am unashamedly biased to see the wee Irishman win; he’s one of our finest and will have all of Ireland cheering him on. But it’s going to be tough with Spieth, Day, Dustin, Scott, Bubba and a host of others featuring. Will Stenson become the first Swede to don a Green Jacket. Or how about the inform and former jacket-winner, Schwartzel?

One things for sure, there will be celebrations and tears. Fist pumps and curses under one’s breath. Skill and nerve under an intense cauldron of pressure. So who will prevail?

So let’s be having you, 2016 Masters. Let’s see what spectacle you will unfold for us. Let the sun shine, the flowers bloom and the birdies commence. My beers are already chilling in the fridge!