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With no patrons attending this year, circumstances will be different from the memorable scenes where Woods was greeted by roaring crowd support on the final hole in 2019 before celebrating the victory by hugging his family.
“I still get chills just thinking about it,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“At 18, and knowing all I have to do is just two putts of that little 15 footer and see my family there, my mom and kids and all the people who helped me to support me or who were there for me in difficult times.
“And I was walking up there trying not to lose him, and still saying, hey, I got two more putts that.”
“Then I came down from the back of the green, to see Charlie over there, I just opened our arms – that meant a lot to me and still does. It reminded me so much of myself and my dad, and coming full circle like that, it still makes me cry a little bit. “
Woods, who clinched his 15th major title at Augusta last year, hosted the traditional Champions Dinner on Tuesday – from shrimp tempura and spicy tuna sushi, steak and chicken fajitas and a trio of desserts.
Not quite the cheeseburgers, fries, and milkshakes he picked out for his first Champions Dinner at age 21.
This year’s Masters, the major men’s final of the year, has been moved from its usual start date in April due to the pandemic, and Woods is entering the tournament which is struggling to find form this year in a disrupted schedule.
“He is preparing for the major championships and trying to figure out what we have to face this year with Covid and trying to be safe,” he said.
“I was hesitant to come back and start playing, and that’s why I waited as long as I did and came back to Memorial (in July). From there, I haven’t put all the pieces together, and I hope I will this week. “
He added that he would find it difficult without the boost from the crowd this time around, 25 years after his first appearance at the Masters.
“Crowd energy is all missing,” Woods said. “This year is going to be a lot different. What we see is going to be striking, our views on the greens, the energy that you hear from different roars, from different parts of the golf course.
“It’s an experience that neither of us has ever experienced. So we’re all going to have it together at the same time and it will be a very different experience, and I hope I can understand and replicate what I am doing. did last year. “
Woods kicks off with 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry and American amateur champion Andy Ogletree at 7:55 a.m. local time on Thursday.
Woods reserved praise for US Open champion DeChambeau, who rocked golf this year by covering huge distances after building up muscle in the gym.
“He took a while. He got the job done,” Woods said.
“What he did in the gym was amazing and what he did on the pitch and what he did with his whole team to be able to optimize this club and transform his game and his ability to hit the ball as far as he goes and in as little time as him – this has never been done before.
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