Tiger Woods says, 'I am so sorry' in public apology

Tiger Woods, the world's top-ranked golfer, Friday accepted responsibility for his "irresponsible and selfish" behaviour, apologizing to a global audience and telling the media to leave his family alone.
"I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. I am the only person to blame," Woods said haltingly in a 13 1/2-minute speech in the clubhouse in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, headquarters of the PGA Tour. "Please leave my wife and kids alone."
Woods asked his friends and fans to believe in him.
"Finally," he said at the end of his talk, "there are many people in this room, and there are many people at home who believed in me. Today I want to ask for your help. I ask you to find room in your heart to one day believe in me again."
Woods, 34, winner of 71 events on the PGA Tour, including 14 majors, has been out of the public eye since a November car wreck near his Florida home and subsequent allegations of infidelity.
"I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior," Woods said, apologizing in some form several times while he delivered his statement in a tightly restricted setting. "For all that I have done, I am so sorry."
Woods, wearing an open-collar shirt, sports coat and gray pants, said he and his wife, Elin, had begun working on repairing their marriage, telling listeners that questions and answers about his behaviour are "a matter between Elin and me. ... I still believe it is right to shield my family from the public spotlight. They didn't do these things -- I did."
Woods dispelled rumors his wife struck him in November, when the accident occurred, saying, "Elin never hit me that night or any other night ... There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage."
Woods also denied reports that he was taking performance-enhancing drugs, calling the accounts "completely and utterly" false.
The infidelity came from thinking "I felt I was entitled," he said. "I was wrong. ... I don't get to play by different rules."
Beginning Saturday, Woods said, he would return to therapy and treatment.
"I do plan to return to golf one day," Woods said.
When he does hit the links, he will be more respectful, he said.
"I just don't know when that day will be."
After his talk, Woods hugged his mother, Kutilda. His father, Earl, died in 2006.
The Golf Writers Association of America boycotted Woods's reading of his statement, saying the news conference should have been opened to all accredited media and the golfer should have taken questions.