Woods apologises

"I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behaviour," he said to a group of friends and employees before a podium in the clubhouse at TPC Sawgrass, Florida.

Woods added that he would return to professional golf but still did not know when he would be back.

"I will return to golf, but I don't know when that will be," he said, flying in the face of rumours that he had been planning to make a return next month at Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Invitational tournament in Orlando.

All the world number one would say is that he "hadn't ruled out" that he would be back this year.

Woods also appeared to admit that his conduct on the course had been almost as bad as his conduct off it in recent years, with episodes of repeated shouted obscenities and club throwing having become a regular occurrence.

"When I do return, I need to make my behaviour more respectful of the game," he admitted.

After apologising to the hand-picked audience, Woods eventually dealt head-on with the issue of his infidelity.

"The issue involved here was my repeated irresponsible behaviour," he said. "I had affairs. I cheated... I stopped living by the core values I was taught to believe in.

"I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to take advantage of the temptation all around me.

"I convinced myself normal rules did not apply... I was wrong, I was foolish. I don't get to play by different rules."

Having made his apology for cheating, Woods then strongly denied the widespread reports of Elin attacking him at Thanksgiving last year.

"Elin never hit me that night or any night," he said. "Elin has shown enormous grace and poise throughout this ordeal.

"But as she has said to me herself, my real apology won't come to her in the form of words but in the form of my behaviour over months to come."

Woods also fiercely repudiated rumours that he had used performance-enhancing drugs as "completely and utterly false".

The father of two added a specific apology for parents of children in the wake of the scandal that destroyed his reputation as a clean-cut family man.

"Parents used to point to me as a role model to their kids," he said. "I owe them a special apology."

Woods also confirmed that he spent 45 days undergoing sex addiction therapy earlier this year, and added that as of Saturday he will start a new course of treatment.