AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tiger Woods says he’s "excited" to get back out on the golf course at the Masters after his admitted infidelity put his career on hold.
"A lot has happened in my life in the past five months," Woods said at his Monday press conference at Augusta National. "I’m here at the Masters to play and compete and I’m really excited about doing that."
Woods has not played since he won the Australian Masters in Melbourne in mid-November. His career nosedived soon thereafter when he crashed his SUV outside his Florida home on Nov. 27. The accident came shortly after the National Enquirer published a story alleging that he was having an affair with Rachel Uchitel. The allegation set off a chain reaction that included more than a dozen women claiming to have engaged in sexual trysts with Woods, leading to his break from the game and a stint in rehab.
When asked how he managed to fool the public with his double life for so long, Woods replied: "I fooled myself as well. I lied to a lot of people, deceived a lot of people, kept others in the dark, rationalized and even lied to myself. When I stripped all of that away and started realizing what I had done, the full magnitude of it, it’s pretty brutal. I take full responsibility for what I’ve done."
Without going into details, Woods revealed that his wife, Elin Nordegren, won’t be at Augusta this week. The four-time Masters champion also admitted to being nervous about his return, but said he was humbled by the support he’s received so far during his practice rounds at Augusta.
"Coming into today, I didn’t know what to respect with regards to reception. And I’ll tell you what, the galleries couldn’t be nicer," he said. "I mean, it was just incredible. The encouragement I got, it blew me away, to be honest with you, it really did. Today was just something that really touched my heart pretty good."
Woods is confident he can win the Masters despite his long break, but he said the most important thing is having his life back on track.
"Look at what I was engaged in," he said. "When you’re living a life that is a lie, life isn’t fun … that’s been stripped away. It feels fun again."
Watch: Tiger Woods Press Conference
