Live blogging Woods' news conference

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2:37 p.m.__ It's over.

2:36 p.m. "I haven't looked forward to that tee shot in a long time. Not like this. It feels fun again. That's been missing. Have I been winning, competing, doing well? Yeah, I was. But I wasn't having fun."

2:34 p.m. Why hasn't he held this kind of media briefing before? In December, he wasn't ready and in January he was in rehab, he said.

2:33 p.m. "The fans have been incredible. I'm looking forward to getting out there on the first tee and teeing off. As far as my peers, they've been great. I'm actually surprised by that, how well I've been received."

2:31 p.m. Regarding what he expects from his game this week: "Nothing has changed. I'm going out there and try to win this thing."

2:30 p.m. A question regarding endorsements. "Do I understand why they dropped me? Of course. I made a lot of mistakes in my life. I totally understand why they would do that. Going forward, hopefully I can prove to the other companies that I'm a worthy investment and can help their company grow."

2:29 p.m. "It's not about championships. It's about how you live your life. I hadn't done that the right way for awhile. I need to change that. I need to be a better man going forward."

2:27 p.m. A Steve Williams question. Woods is glad he's back. "For us to go back out there as a team together feels good."

2:26 p.m. What does this do to your legacy? "My dad, it's amazing how he said things that come back. He said in order to help people you have to learn how to help yourself first."

2:25 p.m. Is there some element of you that you wanted to get caught? "I don't know. I made some incredibly bad decisions and hurt so many people close to me."

2:24 p.m. "Elin is not coming this week."

2:23 p.m. "Because of the time frame of it (going to rehabilitation), I missed my son's first birthday. That hurts. That hurts a lot."

2:21 p.m. "When I gave my speech in February I had no intention of returning to golf (any time soon)." He said he begin hitting balls around then, even bringing teacher Hank Haney down, and found he missed it, at which point he decided he would come back sooner.

2:20 p.m. "I meditate religiously, again, like I used to."

2:18 p.m. Woods said that federal investigators have contacted his agent Mark Steinberg regarding Galea and he has pledged his full cooperation.

2:17 p.m. Another Galea question. Why him, when others do blood spinning? He cited the comfort level of using a doctor that has treated other world-class athletes.

2:16 p.m. "My knee feels great. The only time it doesn't feel good is when a front comes through. It feels strong. It's explosive again, which is great. I'm training like I used to, years ago."

2:15 p.m. A question regarding the mainstream media having been more critical of him than in the past. "Twenty-four news, you're looking for any kind of news to get out there. Of course they've been critical of me. They should. I know what I've done is wrong."

2:10 p.m. The first question regarding Dr. Anthony Galea. Woods denied having used performance-enhancement drugs and explains his treatments following knee surgery.

2:10 p.m. "My kids going forward, I'm going to have to explain all this to them. Winning golf tournaments is irrelevant to all this."

2:08 p.m. Woods will attempt to curb his emotions, good or bad, on the golf course, he said. He said he has under-appreciated the fans in the game of golf.

2:07 p.m. "Other difficult part over the last few months has been the constant harassment to my family."

2:06 p.m. Tiger had a busted lip and sore neck following the accident, he said.

2:04 p.m. Tiger's opening comment: "Today I got a chance to play with Freddie (Couples). Jim (Furyk) joined us on the 13th hole. What a great day today. Coming in today I didn't know what to expect with regards to the reception. Galleries couldn't be nicer. The encouragement I got blew me away."

1:57 p.m. Golf Channel has a sports psychologist, Dr. Bob Winters, helping with analysis.

1:55 p.m. How much interest is there in this news conference? CNN has a countdown clock onscreen.

__1:35 p.m.__Fred Couples, who played a practice round with Woods on Monday morning, said this on Golf Channel:

"We had a lot of laughs. Most of them were about me.

"I would say he's excited to be out there. His face is lit up.

"Mentally, I think he's right in there. I think he's got a huge press conference. That will help all of us out."

1:30 p.m. Stewart Cink recently said this of Tiger Woods' return to golf at the Masters this week at Augusta National:

"I think it's going to be one of the biggest events in golf history, because the biggest player in golf history is going to come back from this absence, and everybody is going to be scrutinizing his game and what he says and where he goes and where he has dinner, everything. It's going to be a big piece of scrutiny on Tiger Woods and the Masters."

It begins today with his news conference at Augusta National at 2 p.m. (EDT).

-- John Strege