**Tiger Woods’ emotional apology has been largely well received by the world of golf despite his admission he did not know when he would return to playing.**A tearful Woods talked publicly for the first time on Friday since his private life hit the news in November.
Sir Nick Faldo said: “It was a pretty expansive apology… but the question of when he is going to play golf is still up in the air.”
Mark O’Meara, a close friend of Woods, thought the apology was “genuine”.
“He’s sincere by what he’s saying,” O’Meara said. "Tiger is a very protected individual - he doesn’t really show a lot of emotion a lot of times.
“Today was a step in the right direction.”
In a frank 13-minute address to a select gathering at PGA Tour headquarters in Florida, Woods apologised to his wife, friends and family as well as his fans.
“I was unfaithful, I had affairs and I cheated. What I did was unacceptable,” he said.
Woods, 34, told the hand-picked attendees he had spent 45 days in therapy and claimed he still “had a long way to go” to overcome his problems.
But although he said he would return to the golf course, he did not say when this would happen.
“I do plan to return to golf one day,” said the world number one. "I just don’t know when that day will be.
Although reaction to Woods’ statement has been largely positive, Faldo said the timing of it had overshadowed this week’s WGC-Accenture Match Play in Arizona which began on Wednesday and continues to Sunday.
The tournament sponsor, Accenture, was the first to drop Woods from their advertising after the revelations about his affairs and some golfers had assumed that Woods’ decision to speak on Friday was timed to hit back at the company.
Woods, however, claimed that the timing of the announcement simply allowed him to return to therapy on Saturday but Faldo told Radio 5 Live: "I don’t buy that.
“The timing of this was quite amazing. I can’t believe that a man in a white coat behind a desk tells him what to do.”
US PGA Tour chief Tim Finchem admitted that despite Woods’ transgressions, golf would continue to suffer in his absence and he looked forward to his return to the fairways.
“He does increase significantly the number of people that watch on television and that plays into our long-term relationship with our television partners and the value of television rights,” he said.
“But I think, in this case, the good news from today is that he plans to return. He could return as early as this year and he clearly has taken the first very visible step on the road to that return.”
Reflecting on Woods’ statement, Finchem added: "My personal reaction was that his comments were heartfelt. He clearly recognises that there has been serious impact to a wide range of individuals and organisations.
“Since day one there has been anger in some quarters but mainly there is a sense of sadness that he’s an American hero and he’s had these issues.”
That was a sentiment echoed by other players taking part in Friday’s third round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play.
Open champion Stewart Cink said: "I was moved by how difficult it seemed to be for him.
"I’ve got a couple of good friends that have gone through the alcohol abuse programme and similar steps are taken in the healing process where you have to make amends to the people you’ve hurt.
“You have to start the bridge to the other side and I think that’s where Tiger is.”