Tiger Woods Gives Public Statement

Posted on February 19, 2010

Tiger Woods gave a public statement this morning at PGA headquarters in Florida. Tiger's mother stood next to him at the press conference which was boycotted by the Golf Writers Association of America because Tiger would not take questions. Tiger Woods apologized for his behavior and acknowledged he has been selfish and irresponsible.

Now every one of you has good reason to be critical of me. I want to say to each of you, simply and directly, I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in.
I know people want to find out how I could be so selfish and so foolish. People want to know how I could have done these things to my wife, Elin, and to my children. And while I have always tried to be a private person, there are some things I want to say.

Tiger Woods says his wife Elin told him his apology to her will come through his future behavior.

Elin and I have started the process of discussing the damage caused by my behavior. As Elin pointed out to me, my real apology to her will not come in the form of words; it will come from my behavior over time. We have a lot to discuss; however, what we say to each other will remain between the two of us.

Tiger Woods also mentioned turning towards Buddhism.

I have a lot of work to do, and I intend to dedicate myself to doing it. Part of following this path for me is Buddhism, which my mother taught me at a young age. People probably don't realize it, but I was raised a Buddhist, and I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years. Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously, I lost track of what I was taught.

Tiger Woods did not give a specific date for when he will return to golf but he says he doesn't know yet when that will be.

I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don't know when that day will be. I don't rule out that it will be this year. When I do return, I need to make my behavior more respectful of the game. In recent weeks, I have received many thousands of e-mails, letters and phone calls from people expressing good wishes. To everyone who has reached out to me and my family, thank you. Your encouragement means the world to Elin and me.

Tiger Woods also says he doesn't want his family discussed in the public spotlight because of his wrongdoings. You can watch the video clip of Tiger's apology/statement below.

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