Recent rain has left the greens playing as soft as he can remember and the three-time champion says that will benefit the younger players.

"It seems that some of the planning I have made may go by the wayside. As soft as the golf course is, you can fire at a lot of the pins. The greens are soft," he said.

"I don't want to say they are slow, but it's just not the same Augusta. It's wet around the greens, and there's no fear of the course. You've got to attack it this week.

"Unless something changes, and I know they have SubAir (greens drying system) and hopefully they will be able to use it, but unless they change it, it's going to be a birdie fest.

"I think that if it plays like this, that there won't be the big mistakes made by any of the young players. I think that it will be a crowded leaderboard."

Mickelson could join Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer as a four-time winner and says he is looking forward to the tournament as much as ever.

"It's my favourite week of the year and I just enjoy every minute of it," said the left-hander, who said the pressure was off after his first victory in 2004.

"Every time this week came around I was excited to get my game geared up, to try and build off of that first win already knowing that I'm going to be a part of this tournament every year."