Tiger Woods says he is wary of the reception he will receive when he returns to action at the Masters after almost five months away from the game.

Woods has not played since admitting multiple extra-marital affairs but will resume playing on 8 April at Augusta.

Asked about the possible reception, Woods told ESPN: "I don't know, I'm a little nervous. It would be nice to hear a couple of claps here and there."

The disgraced world number one, 34, added he had been "living a lie".

The 14-time major champion gave brief interviews to ESPN and the Golf Channel for the first time since his self-imposed exile, telling ESPN: "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.

"But then again, when you face it and you start conquering it and you start living up to it, the strength that I feel now... I've never felt that type of strength."

Woods did not discuss details about his affairs but said that "just one is enough and obviously that wasn't the case".

He explained: "I tried to stop and I couldn't stop, it was horrific. It was disgusting behaviour. I hurt a lot of people, not just my wife. My friends, my colleagues, the public, kids who looked up to me.

"There were a lot of people that thought I was a different person and my actions were not according to that. That's why I had to apologise. I was so sorry for what I had done."

Woods has been receiving treatment at a rehab clinic and said he found that a difficult experience.

"It was really tough to look at yourself in a light you never want to look at yourself, that's pretty brutal."

The 34-year-old's last tournament appearance was on 15 November - when he won the Australian Masters.

Less than a fortnight later he crashed his car outside his Florida home, an incident that led to revelations about his private life and an indefinite break from golf.

In February he made his first public appearance to apologise for his actions before announcing last week he would return to golf at Augusta, where he has won four titles.