New York:
Almost a year after news of his several extramarital affairs surfaced, ace golfer Tiger Woods has said that he "made repeated mistakes" and his life was "out of balance".
A month after he finalised his divorce with Elin Nordegren, Woods opened up about his life over the past 12 months in a candid article in Newsweek.
"The physical pain from that car accident has long healed. But the pain in my soul is more complex and unsettling; it has been far more difficult to easeand to understand," the golf champ wrote.
"But this much is obvious now: my life was out of balance, and my priorities were out of order. I made terrible choices and repeated mistakes. I hurt the people whom I loved the most," Woods wrote.
"And even beyond accepting the consequences and responsibility, there is the ongoing struggle to learn from my failings," he said.
Woods also explains how playing golf made him so self reliant that he began to think of himself as "invincible". "Golf is a self-centered game, in ways good and bad. So much depends on one s own abilities. But for me, that self-reliance made me think I could tackle the world by myself," Woods said.
"It made me think that if I was successful in golf, then I was invincible. Now I know that, no matter how tough or strong we are, we all need to rely on others."
Woods got into trouble since shocking details of his private life received worldwide attention with several of the golfer's mistresses coming forward to provide information about his infidelity.
The cover-up was busted after his wife Elin found out about his extramarital affair with Rachel Uchitel, a New York party planner, which led to an argument and accident on November 27 when Woods crashed his SUV outside his Florida mansion sustaining minor injuries.
The golfer had apologised for his behaviour, spent 45 days in rehab for sex-addiction and has spoken of continuing his treatment.
After the sex scandal broke, Woods took a five month break and then entered the Masters in April but hasn't won any tournament since then.
"Slowly, Im regaining the balance that I'd lost. My healing process is far from complete, but I am beginning to appreciate things I had overlooked before. I'm learning that some victories can mean smiles, not trophies, and that life's most ordinary events can bring joy," Woods wrote.
"I can never truly repair the damage I've done, especially to my family. But I can keep trying. What endures in the record books are the achievements won through competition. What endures in our actual lives is the love of our family and the respect of others," the golfer said.
"I know now that some things can and must change with time and effort. I'm not the same man I was a year ago. And that's a good thing," he concluded.