Woods breaks silence on sex scandal, unsure of return to golf
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida (AFP) — An emotional Tiger Woods apologised for his “irresponsible and selfish behaviour” yesterday as the golf superstar broke his silence on the sex scandal that engulfed him last year.
In a brutally honest self-assessment which was broadcast live across every major network in the United States, the 34-year-old confirmed he had been in rehab for 45 days where he was reportedly seeking treatment for sex addiction.
Repeatedly apologising to family, friends and fans, Woods gave no clue as to when he might return to professional golf, saying only that it would be “one day” and that it might possibly be this year.
“I want to say to each of you simply and directly: I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behaviour I engaged in,” Woods told a hand-picked audience of friends and journalists at the USPGA Tour Headquarters.
“For all that I have done, I am so sorry. I have a lot to atone for.”
Woods’ squeaky clean image was left in tatters last year after a mysterious late-night car crash outside his home in Florida was followed by a string of lurid revelations about his personal life.
More than a dozen women were linked to the billionaire sports star in the weeks following the car crash. Woods later admitted “transgressions” in his private life and had not been in public until this week.
Yesterday he emerged before a spellbound nation to apologise and admit that he had been in a rehabilitation centre for 45 days and that he would return to therapy following his statement.
“It’s hard to admit that I need help, but I do,” Woods said. “For 45 days from the end of December to early February I was in inpatient therapy receiving guidance for the issues I’m facing,” Woods said. “I have a long way to go. But I’ve taken my first steps in the right direction.”
Woods said that during a sporting career which had seen him elevated to iconic status, and on course to become the most successful golfer in history, he had begun to feel that “the normal rules don’t apply”.
“The issue involved here was my repeated irresponsible behaviour. I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated,” Woods said.
“I stopped living by the core values that I was taught to believe in. I knew my actions were wrong, but I convinced myself that normal rules didn’t apply,” he added.
Woods used the occasion to scotch reports that his wife Elin physically attacked him during the incident on November 27 which triggered the scandal.
“Some people have speculated that Elin somehow hurt or attacked me on Thanksgiving night,” Woods said. “It angers me that people would fabricate a story like that. Elin never hit me that night or any other night.”
Immediately after the statement, Woods stepped from the podium to embrace his mother Kultilda, sitting in the front row.