
Disgraced golfer Tiger Woods came close to tears as he issued a grovelling apology for the sex scandal that left this career and marriage in tatters.
Standing in front of a select audience of family and friends, he revealed he had assumed he could get away with anything and “deserved to enjoy all the temptations” after his success.
Speaking for the first time since sordid affairs with up to 14 women came to light, Tiger admitted he needs help and leapt to defend his wife Elin over claims that she physically attacked him before his bizarre November 27 car crash.
After delivering the 15-minute-long prepared statement, the 34-year-old icon hugged and kissed his mother, Kultida Woods, who had watched from the front row.
She and a smattering of Tiger’s friends and golfing buddies then patted him on the back before he left the room, at PGA Tour headquarters, in Ponte Vedra, Florida.
As Tiger disappeared behind the curtains, he seemed to be wiping away tears.
Only a small number of reporters and just one camera were allowed into the room for the statement – feeding out the footage by satellite to broadcasters.
Despite speculation she would attend, his Swedish wife Elin – the mother of his two young children – stayed at home in Windermere, Orlando, with Sam, two, and one-year-old Charlie.
Tiger’s shattered marriage featured heavily in the statement, but he stressed that details of any possible reunion would be kept strictly private and he pleaded for his family to be left alone.
“As Elin pointed out to me, my real apology to her will not come in the form of words – it will come in my behaviour over time. We have a lot to discuss, and what we say to each other will remain between the two of us.”