NEWSTiger Woods: "The Encouragement I Got, It Blew Me Away"
April 5 2010, Published 9:20 a.m. ET
For the first time since his sex scandal made headlines, Tiger Woods answered questions from the press. Tiger said, “The encouragement I got, it blew me away," of the fan reception he has received so far.
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“Sitting here I'm not nervous, no," Tiger told the media. "To be out there in front of the people where I've done some things that are just horrible, for the fans to really want to see me play golf again. That felt great, it really did.”
Tiger might be looking ahead, but since he hasn't spoken to the media much since his Thanksgiving crash there are still many unanswered questions.
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Tiger answered the media's tough questions including why he didn't speak to the media soon after his Thanksgiving crash and whether or not he used performance enhancing drugs.
The pro golfer said he didn't address the media sooner due to advice from his lawyer.
“I did everything to the letter of the law. My lawyer gave me advice and I followed that advice.”
As for receiving treatment by Dr. Anthony Galea he said, “He never gave me HGH or any PEDs,” Woods said. “I have never taken any of those. I’ve never taken any illegal drugs in my life.”
Tiger also answered a lot of questions about his time spent in rehab.
"I was in there for 45 days and it was for me to take a hard look at myself and what I did," he said. "I came out better, much better than going in. Does that mean I'm going to stop doing that, no. It’s part of going forward.”
While in rehab, Tiger said he missed his son's first birthday.
“Having spent Christmas day with my family was incredible. I missed my sons first birthday and that hurts and that hurts a lot," he admitted. "I vowed I would never miss another one after that. That was very hard that day. And something I regret and probably will for the rest of my life."
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For now, it seems his wife Elin Nordegren will not be attending his tournaments as he told the press, "Elin is not coming this week, no."
Tiger admitted he fooled a lot of people including himself and rehab helped his realize the magnitude.
“I fooled myself as well. I lied to a lot of people deceived a lot of people," he said. "Rationalized and lied to myself. When I stripped that all away and realized the full magnitude of what I’ve done it’s pretty brutal.”
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Tiger was much more laid-back when talking about his golf game and being back, though he said he wasn't sure what to expect from his fans.
"Today was something that really touched my heart pretty good," he said of his fans reception towards him.
He also made a statement of apology to his family and the players who have had to go through lots of questions by the media.
"Hopefully after today players can be left alone to focus on the game," he said.
Tiger is looking forward to getting back to the game and plans to acknowledge the fans more.
"During game time acknowledging the fans. For them to still cheer for me is just incredible."
"I'm going to try not to get as hot when I play," he said. "I made a conscious decision to try and clam down my negative outbursts., which may affect my positive outbursts as well. Have more respect for the game.”
“Come game time, I'm going try to get the ball in the hole the best I can," he said. "But during practice time focus on the fans too..for them to cheer for me after everything that transpired in my life is just incredible."
But winning is not as important.
"Winning golf tournaments is irrelevant compared to the damage I caused to my family,” Tiger said.
