AUGUSTA, Ga. — Four of the six amateurs in the Masters field this week were born after Tiger Woods made his Augusta National debut in 1995. They grew up in a world in which Woods’s contending in a major was a given, like spring following winter.

In 75 combined appearances in the four majors, not counting an injury withdrawal during the first round of the 1995 United States Open, Woods missed the cut eight times while recording 37 top-10 finishes. He has 14 major championships. Rory McIlroy, the world No. 2, who can become the first player since Woods to complete a career Grand Slam with a victory this week, has missed the cut four times in 28 major starts while posting 12 top-10s. He has four major titles.

Woods, who is missing the Masters for only the second time in 22 years as he recovers from his most recent back surgeries, spent 683 weeks as the world No. 1, including 281 consecutive weeks from June 2005 to October 2010. Led by McIlroy, the 10 players in this year’s field who have ascended to No. 1 have spent a combined 262 weeks at the top.

“It is much different than the years Tiger dominated,” McIlroy said, adding, “I don’t know if we’re going to see a 10-year stretch of golf like that in our lifetime. What he did in that time span was amazing.”