Woods believes in sharing knowledge about Augusta

• By Jay Coffin
• Apr 3, 2012 2:22 PM ET

AUGUSTA, Ga. – One of the biggest criticisms of Tiger Woods is that he’s insular, doesn’t let a lot of people into his inner circle, especially if it means giving someone else an edge of confidence against him.

That’s not true here at the Masters.

Woods, playing in his 18th Masters, said he tries to hand down knowledge to the younger players when he’s asked. Tuesday he played nine holes with Sean O’Hair and the two plan to play the other nine holes on Wednesday.

“I think it’s just the role of being here, one, as a champion and being here a number of years is that you pass knowledge on,” Woods said. “We pass it on from one generation to the next. That’s what we do.”

On Tuesday Woods vividly recalled a story about gaining knowledge from Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus during a 1995 practice round. They played a skins game even though Woods told the two that he had no cash.

“We have a great time,” Woods said. “I’m pretty chatty out there. I’m trying to gain as much intel as I possibly can, and I’m asking them on every hole, what do you do here, what do you do here, and I’m pretty sure they got sick and tired of me.”

Palmer made a birdie putt on 18 that day for most of the skins money and Woods said he could tell that Nicklaus wasn’t too happy about it. So the three walked over to the par-3 course and continued their friendly match.

“Jack that year told me some of the putts he’s hit over the years," Woods said, "some of the things that have changed about the golf course and strategy on how to play certain flags."