The world came to a grinding halt yesterday to gape at Tiger Woods’ extraordinary mea culpa — as the golf superstar sheepishly apologized to his scorned wife, fans and sponsors for a sensational string of affairs while giving no indication when he would return to the game he used to dominate.
“I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated,” said a somber Woods. “What I did is not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame.”
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The mega-star’s wife, Elin Nordegren, was noticeably absent for the 13½-minute discourse, which literally caused trading to halt on financial markets and captivated a global audience of millions as he spoke publicly for the first time since his pathological infidelity was exposed in November.
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“Trading was already quiet, but when Tiger came on, everybody was looking at the TV screens,” Peter Adams, a livestock trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, told Reuters. “They were mocking him. Only rich guys go to therapy for sex addiction. Everybody else gets hit in the head with a frying pan.”
Dressed in gray slacks, an over-starched blue shirt and blue blazer, Woods — who refused to take questions — was grim as he spoke to a handpicked group at PGA Headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., just after 11 a.m. The audience included his mom, Kultida, PGA Tour executives, friends, employees and select reporters.
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He used the word “I” and its variations nearly 115 times in his speech and referenced several of the traditional 12 steps of rehab, including acceptance of his problems and acknowledging the pain he caused those around him.
“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,” he said.
That behavior was a staggering string of affairs with porn stars, prostitutes, a pancake-house hostess and other pretty young things that came to light after the National Enquirer ran a bombshell story in November about his assignations with New York party girl Rachel Uchitel.
The reports drew the prompt attention of Woods’ wife, who confronted him over the Thanksgiving holiday in an argument that ended with him crashing his SUV right outside their Windermere, Fla., home.
Woods did not identify any of his paramours by name yesterday and refused to give any other details, saying those issues and the question of “whether Elin and I will remain together” were off-limits.
“Every one of these questions and answers is a matter between Elin and me,” said Tiger.
But Woods sternly denied reports that Elin, the mother of his two young kids, struck him and then chased him from the house with a 9-iron right before he crashed the SUV.
“Elin never hit me that night or any other night,” he said. “Elin has shown enormous grace and poise throughout this ordeal.”
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Tiger also roared at the media for sending photographers to take pictures of his mother, as well as his wife dropping their daughter, Sam, off at school.
But, he added, “I recognize I brought this on myself, and I know above all I am the one who needs to change.”
Woods said he had sampled the delights of many women, even though “I knew my actions were wrong,” because “I convinced myself that the normal rules didn’t apply.”
“I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me . . . Thanks to money and fame, I didn’t have to go far to find them,” he said. “I was wrong. I was foolish. I don’t get to play by different rules.”
Woods said that he was returning to his childhood religion of Buddhism, which “teaches that a craving of things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security,” and that he remains in sex-addict treatment.
“For 45 days from the end of December to early February, I was in inpatient therapy receiving guidance for the issues I’m facing. I have a long way to go,” Woods said. “Starting tomorrow, I will leave for more treatment and therapy.”
But he said he also planned, for now, to stay away from competitive golf while he works on restoring the balance between “my spiritual life” and “my professional life.”
“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,” said Woods, who had been widely expected yesterday to announce that he would play in a PGA tournament next month.
Woods — who hadn’t smiled during his entire speech — then broke into a warm grin as he walked away from the podium and into the welcoming arms of his weeping mom, who was sitting in the front row.
“I’m so proud to be his mother,” Kultida said later. “He will start getting better.”