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Tiger Woods has done two interviews, his first since the scandal, in which he attempts to mend his battered image after what was the biggest sex scandal of 2009. The interviews, with The Golf Channel and ESPN, were likely planned out ahead of time to precede his return to golf in The Masters, which start today. They also serve to distract from some pretty raunchy sex texts from Tiger that were just released from one of his porn star mistresses, Joslyn James. (As many of you have pointed out, it’s not that Tiger was being freaky – what happens between two consenting adults is their own business – it’s that he did these things with multiple other women who were not his wife while presenting a wholesome image for sponsorship purposes.)

Many of you will roll your eyes at me, but I think Tiger has gone through a lot of soul searching and therapy, and that he’s taken some of it to heart. He seemed believable to me while he described how he was living a lie and in denial about it. The guy looked genuinely sad and remorseful, and I doubt he’s that good of an actor. I don’t know if it’s enough to save his marriage, but ultimately that’s between him and Elin. (Although of course we’d like to hear the details.) The guy did some unforgivable things, and saying he’s sorry and was in denial doesn’t explain months if not years of banging every random woman he could line up to meet him on tour.

In contrast to his televised apology, I didn’t get a lot of anger from him, just sadness. (He did shake his head “no” while saying he hurt people, but I’ll wait for Eyes For Lies’ assessment to see if she thinks he’s being arrogant about it. She did find his initial apology sincere.)

Here are some of the highlights, thanks to People, which has more. Radar Online has also put together a transcript of Tiger’s Golf Channel interview. You can watch the Golf Channel interview on their website, although it wasn’t loading for me when I tried. (I’m on a slower connection.)

Tiger Woods granted his first interview since his November car crash – and subsequent sex scandal – admitting that he has “done some pretty bad things” in [his] life and that he was “a little nervous” about his upcoming return to professional golf in April.

“I was living a life of a lie, I really was,” a sober-sounding Woods told ESPN at Isleworth, a golf club near his Windermere, Fla., home. The five-minute interview aired Sunday night during SportsCenter. He also gave five minutes to the Golf Channel.

“Stripping away denial and rationalization you start coming to the truth of who you really are and that can be very ugly,” he said.

Part of the recovery process was acknowledging his indiscretions both to his family and to the public. On Feb. 19, Woods appeared at press conference during which he apologized for his behavior during a 13-minute speech. “My real apology will not come in the form of words, but my behavior over time,” he said at the time.

During Sunday’s interview, the golfer said making that public statement has ultimately given him strength. “When you face it and you start conquering it and you start living up to it, the strength that I feel now, I’ve never felt that type of strength,” Woods said.

The Low Points
Apologizing to his wife Elin and mother Kultida about his multiple affairs was one of the “low points” for Woods.

“I hurt them the most,” he said Sunday. “Those are the two people in my life who I’m closest to – and to say the things that I’ve done truthfully to them was very painful.”

As for Elin’s reaction, Woods said, “She was hurt. Very hurt. Shocked and angry – and she had every right to be.”

Woods also confirmed that he sought treatment at a clinic from Dec. 31 through Feb. 11, and that he underwent family counseling for a week in following his public statement in February. He did not, however, specify the type of treatment he was receiving.

“It was really tough to look at yourself in a light you never want to look at yourself,” Woods said. “That’s pretty brutal.”

[From People]

Interestingly, Tiger wouldn’t disclose the details of his accident on the day after Thanksgiving, just saying “it’s all in the police report. Beyond that, everything’s between Elin and myself and that’s private.” When pressed as to why he lost control of the car, he again said “that’s between Elin and myself.” He also described how he had hurt Elin, and how much he loved her despite everything he did. On why he married Elin he explained “Because I loved her. I loved Elin with everything I have. And that’s something that makes me feel even worse, that I did this to someone I loved that much.”

Love and a lot of therapy and regret may not be enough to save Tiger’s marriage. Things have taken a turn for the worse, according to Radar Online. I’ve heard that relationships can be a rollercoaster after one of the parties commits infidelity, and from the stories we’ve been hearing about these two that’s probably the case. Elin is said to be annoyed that Tiger is returning to golf so soon, and she headed to Tiger’s yacht in Palm Beach with the kids over the weekend. Did she get wind of the sex texts that James just released?