Tiger Woods ‘Deeply Sorry’ For Behavior, Return To Golf Unknown

Via SB Nation’s brand new all-Tiger blog, Trailing Tiger, here is the full transcript of his public statement on Friday morning:

Good morning, and thank you for joining me. Many of you in this room are my friends. Many of you in this room know me. Many of you have cheered for me or you’ve worked with me or you’ve supported me.

This is nearly the complete video of Friday’s public statement by Tiger Woods. It picks up the press conference just a couple minutes in. Don’t worry: You aren’t missing much by not seeing the opening:

Tiger Woods is a trailblazer in a new sense now: he may be the first major athlete to cite Buddhism as his religion of refuge in a public apology, as he did during Friday’s public statement. More specifically, Woods is most likely a Therevadan Buddhist, the major stream of Buddhism prevalent in his mother’s native Thailand.

For the layperson, this is “saffron robe” Buddhism, not “red robe Buddhism,” and emphasizes the use of reason and observation to overcome the problems and suffering of this world in order to become an Arhant—one who has attained enlightenment—and thus escape the cycle of death and rebirth and reach nirvana.

It was only about 15 minutes long, but Tiger Woods’ public statement Friday gave us plenty to chew on.

— He apologized, repeatedly and profusely, blaming himself throughout. Near tears, he said he is “deeply sorry for my selfish and irresponsible behavior.” He apologized to his friends, sponsors and family. He admitted to having affairs and cheating on his wife, and living with a sense of entitlement, afforded to him by fame and fortune. Woods said he now understands he must live by the same rules as everyone else.

Stuck at work and can’t watch the Tiger Woods press conference on TV? Don’t worry, YouTube has you covered. They’ll be streaming the whole thing live, starting at 11 a.m. ET. Head here at that time to catch the most exciting public athlete apology of the year (non-steroids category).

On Wednesday, Finchem said the following while addressing the media from the Accenture Match Play tournament:

And as for what Tiger will do after rehab, well, we’d guess return to golf. And soon. Here is one of many photos of him in full Nike gear hitting balls on Wednesday near his Orlando home:

Of course, I (and I’m sure plenty of other non-golf enthusiasts) had no idea there was a tournament this weekend sponsored by Accenture. But now I do, thanks to Tiger. So you could look at it that way.

Besides, Tiger’s agent insists that Accenture is totally cool with all of this:

Tiger Woods met with officials from the Tavistock Cup on Monday to discuss plans about making the small tournament his 2010 golf debut, according to a report published by TMZ.

According to the website’s report, it is a source who works for Tiger that has claimed he will play Tavistock, which is a two-day event on Mar. 22-23. Their sources add that Tiger will then participate in the Masters, which is two weeks later.

Thanks to an official release on Tiger Woods’ website, we have a tiny glimpse into what he will speak about during his 11 a.m. press conference on Friday.

In a prepared statement, Woods will address “his past and his future, and he plans to apologize for his behavior.” He hopes this will be the first step in moving forward: