The lure of conquering one of Australia’s final sporting Everests has Jason Day primed for an assault on the Masters.

Australia has held the America’s Cup, won world cups in rugby, rugby league and cricket and thanks to Cadel Evans last year has even taken out the Tour de France.

But the famous green jacket has remained frustratingly elusive for 75 years.

Each year brings with it new optimism but the impressive Australian assault in the 2011 version has lifted hopes to an all-time high.

Day and countryman Adam Scott were sensational down the stretch on Sunday last year to post the clubhouse lead at 12-under-par; a mark most, including the men themselves, thought would be good enough for a playoff.

To do so they had to post late birdies to get ahead of big names Tiger Woods, Luke Donald and Geoff Ogilvy.

But essentially it counted for very little after South African Charl Schwartzel defied history to birdie the last four holes and win by two, leaving Day and Scott tied second and Ogilvy tied fourth.

It took the Australian runner-up tally to seven, once again so near yet so far.

For Day it was a serious statement about his skills and pushed him towards the world top 10.

In his very first trip to Augusta National the youngster almost took the prize not even Greg Norman could conquer and it is the lure of being the first from down under driving him to go one better.

“I’d absolutely love to be the first guy to win it from Australia, it’s certainly a driving force,” Day says.

“It’s probably the hardest thing left for Australians to do.

“If you think about it after Cadel Evans won the Tour de France this is probably the biggest mountain left for us to climb.

“It brings an extra element to it for sure.

“Winning any major would be great but winning the Masters, and being the first from Australia would be an unbelievable career right there.

“I want to win a lot of tournaments in my life but if I did that I’d be very happy with my career lets put it that way.”

Despite his youthful enthusiasm and confidence Day admits he has to be mindful of not getting too far ahead of himself.

The 24-year-old Queenslander will try to take a low-key approach to the tournament, much like last year – easier said then done now he’s a rising star in the golfing world.

Before the 2011 Masters he was a 150-1 shot and barely rated a mention.

This year he will start much shorter odds and has his own pre-tournament interview slot amongst the big names, hardly under the radar.

“I think the key for me is to relax and try and not have too many distractions off the course,” he says.

“That might be a little difficult because when you play well the previous year there can be a lot of distractions.

“I want to win but I don’t expect to go there and win.

“It’s important that I don’t put those expectations on myself.

“I just need to make sure I am having fun, which is what I was doing last year.”

Australia’s top hope, according to must pundits and the bookies, is Scott.

In recent years Scott has made a conscious effort to play less golf and focus on the majors but with just eight competitive rounds of stroke play golf to his name in 2012 there is a worry he’s coming in underdone.

But there were only 12 competitive rounds to his name before last year’s effort so perhaps less is more.

“I’m just trying to keep myself fresh and have myself ready for the biggest events of the year,” Scott said.

“Playing well at Doral was all I needed to know that I am ready to be competitive so the last couple weeks has been all about preparation and practice.

“When you play a slightly reduced schedule from other people, you have to be disciplined when you work at home.

“That’s something I adopted last year and I found just as much satisfaction in the process and the practice as I get out of any result.”

Ogilvy, Aaron Baddeley, John Senden and amateur Bryden Macpherson round out the Australian tilt.

The former three all earned invites by making it to last year’s Tour Championship on the US PGA Tour while Macpherson, a 21-year-old member of the Golf Australia national squad, takes his place after taking out the prestigious British Amateur Championship last year.