Woods Savors Sharing the Augusta Experience

As he makes his 20th appearance at the Masters this week, Tiger Woods has begun to recognize which tournaments have been landmark moments in his life. (Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson eye Woods in Augusta showdown)

In 1997, when he won at Augusta National Golf Club for the first time, it was weeks after his father survived a life-threatening illness. The lasting memory in the glow of that milestone victory was a father-son embrace just beyond the 18th green. (Anirban Lahri sees Augusta Masters as a great opportunity)

This year, for the first time in a decade, Woods will play Wednesday in the Masters' par-3 contest, which is officially a competition but mostly a cheerful ceremony for players, families and golf fans. (For champions, only a year to throw on the Green Jacket)

It appears that Woods' primary motivation for playing in the par-3 contest is so that his two children, Sam, 7, and Charlie, 6, can be his caddies.

Tuesday, at a news conference, Woods recalled his victory in 1997 and added: "To now have come full circle and to have a chance to have my kids out there and be able to share that with them, it's special. It just means the world to me."

Woods, grim-faced and serious when preparing at his previous 19 Masters tournaments, struck a more tranquil, untroubled tone during his conversation with reporters Tuesday.

Smiling often and trading jokes, Woods conceded that he was feeling older because last year's tournament runner-up, Jordan Spieth, was "in diapers when I won my first Masters." He said he was weary from chasing his kids around, then quipped: "The good news is my soccer game has gotten a lot better."

But Woods, who has not played a competitive round for almost two months, said that his ailing back was healthy and that he had practiced from "sunup to sundown" to get his game back to where he could again compete for his 15th career major victory.

"I worked hard, and people would never understand how much work I put into it to come back and do this again," Woods said. "I couldn't keep going down the path I was going, and it was going to take time and effort.And that's one of the reasons I decided not to compete for a while, to take time."

Woods has restyled his swing again, although this time he has gone back to some of his old swing fundamentals.

"It's a familiar pattern; it's new but old, or old but new," he said. "I've been there before. Once I started picking it up, it came back pretty quickly."

Ever technical and enigmatic when describing his swing, Woods said he had been caught between two "release patterns" earlier this year but homed in on one eventually. He said he had some minor problems with his balky back but nothing that kept him from practicing frequently.

"It just gets sore from bending over and hitting so many putts," he said. "You stand over a putter for a couple hours, you're going to be a little sore."

Some of Woods' most recent troubles seemed to be mental, especially as it related to his short game around the greens, where he embarrassingly flubbed routine shots. Woods said he had worked on those facets of his game as well. Some of his rivals said they believed that Woods would conquer those short-game demons.

"The easiest fix is the short game," Phil Mickelson said. "He's won numerous tournaments because of his short game. I just don't think it's a hard thing to get back. You hit a few chips close, and all of a sudden your confidence is back."

Asked if he was worried about Woods, Rory McIlroy, the world's top-ranked golfer, answered: "It's hard to be concerned for someone that's already won 14 majors, 80 PGA Tour events and earned over a billion dollars in his career."

Woods was not looking ahead to the outcome of his 20th Masters. Pressed to assess what winning a fifth Masters title would mean, Woods smiled and said: "We have a long way to go before that. We've got a lot of work."

Woods was more intent on focusing on the par-3 contest with his daughter and son foremost on his mind.

"They are excited," he said of his children. "And I'm excited and can't wait to go out there."

© The New York Times 2015