LOS ANGELES: In his first interview since a sex scandal shattered his image, golfer Tiger Woods says he "was living a lie" and "hurt a lot people" including his wife and family, ESPN reported on Sunday.

"I was living a lie, I really was," Woods told ESPN reporter Tom Rinaldi, in his first face-to-face interview since a November car crash outside his Florida home. "And I was doing a lot of things, that hurt a lot of people. And stripping away denial, and rationalisation, you start coming to the truth of who you really are, and that can be very ugly."

Woods announced his return at the Masters in April after four months of self-imposed exile. Shielded by the most secure environment in golf, it is still expected to be a circus-like atmosphere and unlike anything he has ever faced. He told ESPN he is starting to get his life back in order.

Woods has not played since winning the Australian Masters in mid-November after a sex scandal in which he admitted cheating on wife Elin, and apologised for igniting a tabloid frenzy where more than a dozen women have claimed affairs.

Woods said he reached a low point when he had to face his mother and wife with the truth. Woods' interview come just days after former porn star Veronica Siwik-Daniels released more than 100 text messages on her website that portray Woods as someone who fantasizes about having violent sex with submissive women.

Woods attended a clinic in Mississippi in January and February. Asked what he went into in-patient therapy for, Woods refused to go into specifics.

Woods reiterated that he would return for the Masters on April 8. "I am a little nervous about that to be honest with you," he said. "It would be nice to hear a couple of claps here and there. But I also hope they clap for birdies."