Sports

Tiger says he’s back for fifth Masters title

AUGUSTA, Ga. — If you were expecting a vein to be opened, tears to be shed or any sort of emotional blood-letting from Tiger Woods in his first question-and-answer press conference, you didn’t get it yesterday inside the riveted, standing-room-only interview room at Augusta National.

Asked what his expectations are this week at the Masters coming off a five-month layoff, Woods said with a smile, “Nothing’s changed, [I’m] going out there to try to win this thing.”

During his 35-minute press conference, Woods also said:

* He never used human growth hormone or took any illegal drugs.

* He “followed the letter of the law” after slamming his car into a fire hydrant last November.

* He plans to tone down his reactions — good and bad — on the course, and hopes to interact more with his fans.

During his practice round yesterday, Woods indeed was far more engaging and gave every impression that he is bent on repairing his shattered image. Only time will tell how sincere he is about that how it is received by the public.

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Sporting a goatee, Woods began his press conference visibly jittery, fumbling through his opening statement, but he grew more composed as the session wore on and, for the most part, he didn’t dance around pertinent questions.

When Woods spoke about the support he got from the fans while he played his practice round yesterday, his eyes lit up. When he talked about getting to the first tee for Thursday’s opening round, his smile widened. This is when he looked most comfortable.

Obviously, Woods sees his return to competing inside the ropes as a welcome sanctuary.

“I haven’t looked forward to that tee shot in a long time, not like this,” he said. “It feels fun again. That’s something that’s been missing. Have I been winning, have I been competing, have I been doing well? Yeah, I have.

“I’ve won numerous times the last few years [six times last year], but I wasn’t having anywhere near the amount of fun. Why? Because look what I was engaged in. When you live a life where you’re lying all the time, life is not fun. That’s where I was. Now that’s been stripped all away, and here I am. It feels fun again.”

Woods, however, conceded he doesn’t know what to expect from his game come Thursday.

“The fact that I haven’t really played at all, that’s a little bit concerning,” he said. “I’m hoping I get my feel back quickly — you know, maybe, hopefully on the first hole.”

The closest Woods came to getting emotional came when he talked about how he was received by the fans while he and Fred Couples played their morning practice round (Jim Furyk joined them at No. 13).

“The encouragement that I got blew me away . . . [it] was something that really touched my heart pretty good,” he said.

Woods, who said he will play a practice round today with friends Mark O’Meara and Steve Stricker, conceded he “was definitely more nervous” on the first tee yesterday than usual.

Make no mistake, though, there were some uncomfortable moments when he stubbornly refused to answer some questions.

For example, though he said Woods was not addicted to the prescription drugs such as Ambien and Vicodin that he has been taking, he refused to divulge what he’s been in therapy for, saying tersely, “That’s personal, thank you.”

Woods briefly reverted to his old smugness when he stone-walled a question about what role Ambien played in his Thanksgiving-night car wreck considering witnesses said he was mumbling and snoring while lying in the street.

“Well, the police report investigated the accident and they cited me 166 bucks and it’s a closed case,” he said.

When questioned whether he was returning to golf too soon instead of “repairing your relationship” with wife Elin, Woods responded with this: “Well, I’m excited to play this week.”

mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com