Though he didn't take any questions during his public statement Friday, Woods offered numerous answers to issues that have lingered since late November.
"I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in," he told a room of reporters, friends and family at the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
"I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did is not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame."
Woods said he wants to keep much of his dealings with his wife Elin Nordegren as private matters, but he did deny that she ever hit him.
"I have a lot to atone for, but there is one issue I really want to discuss," he said. "Some people have speculated that Elin somehow hurt or attacked me on Thanksgiving night. It angers me that people would fabricate a story like that. Elin never hit me that night or any other night.
"There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage ever."
Woods also denied that he ever used performance-enhancing drugs, which was alleged by a Canadian doctor in December.
The golfer also pleaded with the media and paparazzi to leave his family alone, showing some anger when discussing the reports of Elin taking the couple's daughter to school on Thursday.
"I still believe it is right to shield my family from the public spotlight," Woods stated emphatically. "They did not do these things. I did. … My behavior doesn't make it right for the media to follow my 2-and-a-half-year-old daughter to school and report the school's location. They staked out my wife, and they pursued my mom.
"Whatever my wrongdoings, for the sake of my family, please leave my wife and kids alone."
Woods also said that he doesn't plan to delve into the details of his private life.
"As I proceed, I understand people have questions," he said. "I understand the press wants to ask me for the details of the times I was unfaithful. I understand people want to know whether Elin and I will remain together. Please know that as far as I'm concerned, every one of these questions and answers is a matter between Elin and me. These are issues between a husband and a wife."
Woods, who was seen golfing on Thursday, said that he does plan on returning to professional golf, but he didn't say when.
"I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don't know when that day will be," he said. "I don't rule out that it will be this year. When I do return, I need to make my behavior more respectful of the game."
To get his life back on track, Woods said he will rely on help from his therapy and the principles of Buddhism, which he said his mother taught him at a young age.
"Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security," Woods said. "It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously, I lost track of what I was taught."
Following his statement, which ran a little longer than 13 minutes, Woods stepped down from the podium and hugged his mother and a small group of friends before leaving the room.
