He is the hottest player on the European Tour early in the season but Charl Schwartzel says he feels it is time to step up another notch.

The 25-year-old South African won back-to-back tournaments on home turf last month at the Africa Open and the Johannesburg Opens and on Thursday he set the early pace in the Dubai Desert Classic with an opening 68.

Those efforts have earned him the accolade of European Tour Golfer of the Month for January, a recompense he sees as a "nice achievement" as he prepares to build on the platform he has established inside the world top 50.

"Beginning of the year my short-term goal was to get into the Top 50 to play in the Masters," he said.

"Winning the two (tournaments) should make me pretty certain to play in the Masters, which will be my first and I'll be very excited about that.

"Playing those big events against the best in the world it's something that I've always worked towards. I've been discussing it with my managers - where we are going to play and how we are going to do it."

Schwartzel is no stranger to great expectations becoming the then third youngest player to secure his European Tour card through the Qualifying School when, at the age of 18 years and 81 days, he claimed 24th place in 2002 after a promising amateur career.

He then became just the second player to win three consecutive Sunshine Tour Order of Merit titles between 2005 -- the same year he won his first European Tour title, the Dunhill Championship on home soil - and 2007.

Comparisons were being made with such illustrous compatriots as Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, but his progress through the ranks stalled for a while until he bolted out of the blocks at the start of this year.

Schwartzel feels he is now better equipped to deal with the pressure of being touted as the next big thing from South Africa.

"When the expectations are high, it gets difficult because the expectation of myself gets very high and the added pressure from the outside makes it difficult," he said.

"But it's things that you've got to deal with if you want to be one of the best players in the world. There are things that you have to deal with and get used to.

"It's such a fine line because some people ask me why I'm playing so well this year and I just don't know. I felt it coming for a while but you have just got to be patient."