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Crowd roars for Tiger at Masters return

Hail, Tiger!

Tiger Woods yesterday got an “incredible” welcome back to golf from fans watching him prepare for the famed Masters tournament — his first competition since being exposed as a serial philanderer and undergoing sex-addiction treatment.

“Go, Tiger!” fans excitedly yelled as Woods, 34, walked down the fairways of the Augusta National Country Club, where he is seeking his fifth Masters title.

“Glad to have you back!” others warmly cheered when the links legend approached crowds — standing three people deep — during his practice round.

“I was impressed with how he was greeted,” said Atlanta resident Len Scott, 65.

“In my mind, what happened is his personal business, and he has to deal with that with his wife and family,” Scott said. “We’re out to see him as a professional.”

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Tiger was heartened by the warm welcome.

“I didn’t know what to expect with regards to reception, and, I tell you what, the galleries couldn’t be nicer,” he said later.

“I mean, it was just incredible,” Woods told more than 200 reporters at his first press conference since his seedy sex scandal broke. “The encouragement I got . . . it blew me away, to be honest with you.”

Woods appeared relaxed as he discussed his 45-day stay in sex rehab earlier this year after a harem’s worth of hussies spilled the beans about being bedded by him while he was married to his Swedish stunner wife, Elin Nordegren.

“It was to take a hard look at myself, and I did, and I’ve come out better,” Woods said. “I’m certainly a much better person for it than I was going in.”

“Unfortunately, what I’ve done over the past years has just been terrible to my family,” he said.

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But when asked what the rehab stint was for, Woods curtly replied, “That’s personal, thank you.”

Woods, in fact, stayed at a sex-addiction rehab clinic in Hattiesburg, Miss.

He poignantly revealed missing his son Charlie’s first birthday after entering the treatment right after Christmas.

“That hurts a lot,” Woods said. “I vowed I would never miss another one after that. I can’t go back to where I was. I want to be part of my son’s life and my daughter’s life going forward. I mean, that was a very hard day, and something that I regret, and I probably will for the rest of my life.”

Woods remained calm and unemotional throughout the press conference, in stark contrast to his teary February announcement of his philandering and subsequent interviews set up with selected journalists where he appeared misty-eyed.

“Elin is not coming this week, no,” he said yesterday when asked if Nordegren and their two young kids would be at the Masters.

Asked if he should be playing now instead of “repairing” his relationship, Woods evaded the question, muttering, “Well, I’m excited to play this week.”

After watching the press conference from an Augusta steakhouse, local firefighter Robert Szocinski told The Associated Press, “The man’s a Buddhist, and this is the Bible Belt. We forgive.”

“This week, people in Augusta look at one thing — how well do you hit a white ball?”

george.willis@nypost.com