Woods has won at Augusta on four occasions

Earl Woods is battling cancer, and there had been speculation that the defending champion might miss this year's tournament to be with him.

"He's a tremendous fighter and has an unbelievable will," said Woods.

"Hopefully he's passed a little bit of that on to me. That's kind of how I play, I guess (in terms of) my competitiveness on the course."

Masters tee times

Last April, his father was in Augusta but not well enough to attend the tournament and Woods broke down at the presentation ceremony.

"At least he was able to travel. That's no longer the case. But if anyone can fight and grind it out it would be him. He's as tough as they come," said Woods.

Woods has not finished in the top 20 of his last two events, leading many to wonder if his performance was affected by the situation off the course.

But Woods refuted the suggestions, saying: "As far as that being a distraction - no, I had plenty of time to focus on each and every shot. I just hit poor shots and I putted terrible."