Tiger Woods took full responsibility for the marital infidelities which led to his startling fall from grace and admitted he had lied and deceived a lot of people.
"I lied to a lot of people, deceived a lot of people," the American world number one, who sported a goatee and wore a gray, yellow, pink and white-striped shirt and black trousers, told a packed news conference.
"I fooled myself as well. The full magnitude of it, it's pretty brutal."
Speaking before his comeback to competition at the Masters on Thursday, Woods said his Swedish wife Elin would not be attending the tournament.
He also pledged to give the game more respect in the future and said he would to try to tone down his occasional bad language and emotional outbursts out on the course.
Woods has not played professional golf since winning the Australian Masters on November 15 following revelations that he had had a string of extra-marital affairs.
"Coming into today I didn't know what to expect with regards to the reception," Woods said. "I tell you what the galleries couldn't have been nicer.
"The encouragement, it blew me away," added Woods who made noticeable efforts to engage with the fans. "The people here over the years are extremely respectful but today was something that touched my heart pretty good."
Woods played 18 holes in practice with 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples earlier in the day, and the pair were joined for the last six holes by 2003 US Open champion Jim Furyk.
Asked about his occasional temperamental on-course behaviour, he replied: "I'm going to try to not to get as hot, but that means I won't be as exuberant.
"I made a decision to try and tone down my negative outbursts and be more respectful of the game."
The 14-times Major champion also promised to focus much more on his life away from the course.
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