The Golf Channel and ESPN have conducted the first sit-down interviews with Tiger Woods since his Thanksgiving accident and subsequent revelations of infidelity. The interviews were conducted on Sunday afternoon by the Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghmann and ESPN's Tom Rinaldi in Florida, and each network was allotted approximately five minutes.
The full Golf Channel interview is right here.
ESPN released clips of the interview via press release prior to the interview's airing. Some of the quotes follow.
On why he got married:
Woods: "Why? ‘Cause I loved her. I loved Elin with everything I have. And that's something that makes me feel even worse. That I did this to someone I loved that much."
On the depth of his infidelity:
Woods: "Well, just one is enough. Um, and obviously that wasn't the case, and I've made my mistakes. And as I've said, I've hurt so many people, and so many people I have to make an amends to, and that's living a life of amends."
On all that has happened over the past year:
Woods: "A lot has transpired in my life. A lot of ugly things have happened. Things that have.....I've done some pretty bad things in my life. And uh, all came to a head. But now, after treatment, going for inpatient treatment for 45 days and more outpatient treatment, um, I'm getting back to my old roots."
On what happened the day of the car accident:
Woods: "Well you know it's all in the police report. Beyond that everything's between Elin and myself and that's private."
On why he didn't seek treatment before all the news broke:
Woods: "Well I didn't know I was that bad....stripping away denial, rationalization. You strip that away and you find the truth."
On the low points -- the moments of having to tell his wife and mother:
Woods: "They both have been brutal. They've both been very tough. Because I hurt them the most. Those are the two people in my life who I'm closest to and to say the things that I've done, truthfully to them, is...honestly was...very painful."
On what his measure of success will be at the Masters:
Woods: "Well, playing is one thing. I'm excited to get back and play, I'm excited to get to see the guys again. I really miss a lot of my friends out there. I miss competing. But still, I still have a lot more treatment to do, and just because I'm playing, doesn't mean I'm gonna stop going to treatment."
On the expected/hopeful reception from fans:
Woods: "I don't know. I don't know. I'm a little nervous about that to be honest with you...It would be nice to hear a couple claps here and there...but also hope they clap for birdies too (laughs)."
