Tiger Woods speaks during a press conference at the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga

so great to see tiger again back in the game that he loves and worked hard for since his childhood ...
we can't wait to watch tiger up on the golf course @ the masters .. yyeehheeyyy !!!
go tiger go !!! go golf masters go !!!



Tiger Woods 'Blown Away' by Fans' Reception


(David J. Phillip/AP Photo)

A Relaxed, Confident Woods Says He Expects to Win Masters Tournament

ABC NEWS

By RUSSELL GOLDMAN

April 5, 2010


Tiger Woods said he didn't know what to expect when he returned to the golf course, but today said he was "blown away" by the warm reception he received from fans today while practicing at Augusta National ahead of this week's Masters Tournament.


Tiger Woods speaks during a press conference at the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga.

Monday, April 5, 2010.

The tournament begins Thursday, April, 8. Just days before his return to golf, Tiger Woods will confront a roomful of reporters today and likely parry some of the most direct questions about his career-derailing sex scandal ever put to him.


"What a great day today," Woods told a hand-picked room of reporters at the storied August, Ga. club. "Coming in today I didn't know what to expect? the galleries couldn't be nicer? The encouragement that I got, blew me away to be honest with you."

"It touched my heart," he added.

The news conference was Woods' first extended question and answer session with reporters since a sex scandal derailed his career nearly five months ago.


"I'm going to try and not get as hot when I play," he said. "When I'm not as hot, I'm not as exuberant either. I can't play one without the other? I've made a conscious decision to tone done the negative outbursts," the golfer told a room of hand-picked reporters.

Of that fateful accident, Woods said when he was taken to the hospital he received five stitches in his mouth. Woods admitted using the sleep drug Ambien in the past and denied he was in rehab for drug use. He added that he had never used any illegal drugs.

He said "nothing's changed" and he still expects to win the Masters that begins on Thursday. Woods has already won four Masters Tournaments.

In other ways, however, he was a more humble golfer. He said the reception he had received from fans made him realize that he needed to return the appreciation, and pledged to better acknowledge his supporters moving forward.

"So many fans supported me over the years. I want to say thank you to them. The past few months have put things in perspective How much I underappreciated the fans," he said.

In a reference to his aloof treatment of his fans over the years, he said, "That was wrong of me."

Tiger Woods Says Wife Elin Will Not Be at Masters

The world's No.1 golfer said he had made some "incredibly bad decisions" but through therapy and Buddhist meditation was now "at peace" and could play the game the way he did early in his career before he became entrapped in fame and what he described as self deceit.

Woods would not specify what he is in therapy for, calling it personal.

Woods again apologized to his mother, children and wife, Elin Nordregren. Nordegren, he said, would not be attending the tournament.

He said he realized how much damage his philandering had done to his family soon after Christmas when he entered therapy and missed his son Charlie's first birthday.

"I missed my son's first birthday and that hurts. It hurts a lot. I vowed I'd never miss another one after that. I want to be a part of my son's life going forward. It is something I regret and probably will for the rest of my life," Wood said.

He said he surprised too by the reception he received from other golfers.

"It's amazing how many hugs I've gotten from the guys," he said with a grin.

And despite a five-month thrashing from the press, Woods acted like the press, with whom he has long had a chilly relationship, were his old pals. He said many of the reporters in the room he considered to be his friends, calling on them by their first names and referring to one as "bro."


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