Darren Clarke has finally agreed that the only way for him to achieve all his goals in golf is to become fitter.
A pacesetting 66 in the first round of the Volvo PGA championship at Wentworth today was followed by a frank admission from the Dungannon golfer - listed at 16 1/2 stones by the European tour - that his condition was the main reason he did not win the Masters last month.
Clarke led at Augusta by three after his opening 66, but because of bad weather had to play 28 holes on Friday and 26 on Saturday. By the time it was over he was nine behind and out of the hunt.
Asked what he had learnt that week the 34-year-old said: "That I'm probably a little bit too heavy.
"I wasn't fit enough to cope with the challenge that was presented. I wasn't as mentally sharp as I needed to be because I'm not in as good a shape as I needed to be."
Coming as it did only two weeks after he had finished a round at the Players Championship with two bogeys the evidence was overwhelming.
"There are mistakes creeping in at the end of the round that are happening too frequently for me to ignore. With me trying to identify reasons why I have not been doing so well as I should be it's pretty logical to take a look at the one area I haven't addressed."
So Clarke has taken on a personal trainer who has already introduced a new, higher carbohydrate diet and next week will "start putting me through my paces."
And while cigars remain in the bag as he plays, the Ryder Cup star is now to be found munching energy bars, raisins and something which looked suspiciously like a Jelly Baby, but he insists wasn't.
"I'm a bit more serious about what I'm doing than for quite some time - my commitment is a lot stronger than it was before. I was not fulfilling what I felt I could do."
The changes were initiated by manager Andrew Chandler - known as "Chubby" himself - and wife Heather. "they kept chipping away, but I'm pretty thick to get through to!"
Clarke did not drop a stroke over a West Course on which he has twice finished second - to Ian Woosnam in 1997 and Colin Montgomerie in 2000 - and showed the benefit of the working he has also been doing with American mental coach Bob Rotella.
Patience, not always his strong point in the past, paid off when he followed eight opening pars with birdies at the ninth, 11th and 12th. Then, with Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell already in with 68s, he jumped clear of them with an 18-foot eagle putt on the 571-yard 17th and two-putt birdie at the 531-yard last.
Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee and South African James Kingston cut Clarke's lead to one with rounds of 67.
Former paratrooper Jaidee is making his debut in the event and is playing only because Indian Jyoti Randhawa, who leads him on the Asian Order of Merit, had visa problems.
Rose, sporting a flower on the back of his cap in support of a charity which is raising funds for the hospital where his late father was treated for leukaemia, was the only player other than Clarke to keep a bogey off his card.
World number two Ernie Els stood one over after 11 holes, but then chipped in for eagle at the next and birdied the 13th and last for a 69 - the same as Montgomerie.