Tiger Woods blames himself, fame, temptation
Tiger Woods, in what was an almost-15 minute speech today (video here) , said only one thing about golf: "I do plan to return to golf one day. I just don't know when that day will be."
The rest of his statement was about being sorry and working on repairing the damage to his marriage, foundation and business partners.
"I want to say to each one of you simply and directly, I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior ... Elin and I have started the process of healing the damage." But he said, "My real apology to her will not come in the form of words. It will come from my behavior over time. However, what we say to each other will remain between the two of us."
He wanted to be clear about Thanksgiving night: "Elin never hit me that night or any other night. There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage. Ever. Elin has shown enormous grace and poise throughout this ordeal. Elin deserves praise, not blame. The issue involved here was my repeated irresponsible behavior. I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated."
Fame and fortune played a role, he said. "I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard throughout 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. I was wrong. I was foolish. I didn't get to play by different rules."
He asked the media to "please leave" Elin and the kids alone. He spoke of Buddhism and how he had drifted away from it in recent years. And he said, "I will leave for more treatment and more therapy."
His final words: "Today, I want to ask for your help. I ask you to find room in your heart to one day believe in me again."
Tiger Woods while playing golf in 2007 
American golfer Tiger Woods delivered a speech on Friday where he apologized for his recently publicized marital infidelities. Before an audience of the press, family, and friends, Mr. Woods admitted that he did indeed have a sex addiction. He said that he would one day return to golf, although he did not specify when.

In his speech, he said that he had not been assaulted by his wife, Elin Nordegren, on November 27, 2009, as was speculated in the media, and the injuries he sustained were due to a car accident. He said that his wife "deserves praise, not blame."

He scolded the media for the attention they were bringing to his family and friends saying "please leave my wife and kids alone." He was very angry at paparazzo who followed his daughter to school, then releasing the school's name and address.

After his speech, the stock price of companies which sponsored Woods rose on average 3% compared to the S&P 500 which only rose about 0.35%. These companies include Nike, Electronic Arts, and AT&T among others. Also CBS Sports expects to lose over US$200 million in ad revenue due to the drop in viewers.