They represent the most dominant foreign nation on the PGA Tour. Per capita, it's not even close.

Stuart Appleby is one of nine Australians entered in this year's Masters Tournament. No Aussie has won a green jacket. (Annette M. Drowlette/Staff)

Yet no Australian has ever won the Masters Tournament. Greg Norman's crushing defeats at Augusta National Golf Club made the Down Under's obsession with the green jacket even more pronounced.

"It would be a huge feat to be the first Aussie to win," Stuart Appleby said. "I think we are all aware of that. I do believe ... it's a matter of time. I think a lot of Australians have a lot of very compatible games for Augusta."

A record nine Australians are in this year's Masters field. Eight of them have won a combined 30 times on the PGA Tour, including three times already this season. Two of them - Mark Hensby and Rod Pampling - tied for fifth last year at Augusta National.

But only one, Steve Elkington, has won a major, and that was 11 years ago at the PGA Championship.

It could be argued that Appleby has the game to contend in majors, but his career record doesn't back him up. In 28 major starts, only once has he seriously threatened to win, and he ended up losing in a four-man playoff at the 2002 British Open.

"I haven't played enough good majors," Appleby said. "I play 30 tournaments a year, so that's a 1-in-30 chance, and the majors are only four parts of that 30, so it gets a bit difficult to try and sit there and say, 'He's a good player, he should win.' I just haven't played well enough in the majors to put myself in contention."

At the Masters, Appleby's record is forgettable. He's missed five cuts in nine appearances and never finished higher than 21st - and that as a rookie in 1997.

"Yeah, I would like to play better there," he said. "My performance shows I haven't played well at Augusta. If you want to look at performance, that's great. But I'm a good enough player to win at Augusta. You look at that, too. Flip a coin on that one."

Asked to explain why he's struggled at Augusta National, the seven-time PGA Tour winner who recently three-peated in the season-opening Mercedes Championships is at a loss.

"I know people ask, 'Why do you do so well at Hawaii?' Well, I don't know. I guess I pick the right club better than someone else or I guess I read the greens better than someone else," he said.

"Augusta has sort of been the opposite, but I'm not sure. ... Maybe I need to relax more. Maybe I need to try harder. I'm not sure."

Ranked as high as No. 10 in the world at one point, Appleby hopes to solidify his reputation as one of the game's best. Whether that means winning a major or simply winning more often is fine with him.

"I think I would like to win more than once in a year," he said. "That would be the next goal, if you lined them up, to solidify and do something more like what Adam Scott does. Adam sort of floats around in the Top 10 there and locked that in. So I know what I have to do to do that.

"I'm not frustrated, but I know that's the next step - to be a top-10 player."

Whether anyone includes him on the short list of current top players with the ability to finally win a major is irrelevant.

"I really don't care whether I get put in that category or not," he said. "I can only really concentrate on what I'm doing."

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.