By Art Spander
Special to NewsdayAUGUSTA, Ga. -- Tiger Woods said the Canadian physician being investigated for allegedly distributing performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes did come to his Florida home but only to give Tiger platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatments.
"He never gave me HGH or any PEDs,'' Woods said Monday of Dr. Anthony Galea during his first full news conference since Woods crashed his car last November, setting off revelations of a sex scandal.
In the 34½-minute news conference three days before he plays the Masters, his first tournament in five months, Woods said he needed treatment both as part of the recovery from June 2008 surgery on the ACL of his left knee and for a subsequent torn Achilles in his right leg.
Galea has been linked with numerous athletes, including the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez and the Mets' Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes.
On Thursday, Rodriguez reportedly told Major League Baseball investigators that he had been treated by Galea, but that he did not receive performance enhancing drugs. Galea has told The Associated Press that he treated Rodriguez with anti-inflammatory medicine after A-Rod's hip surgery last year.
Federal agents have spoken to several athletes, including Reyes and Beltran, who also were treated by Galea. The doctor has been charged with four drug-related charges in Canada.
Woods said federal agents contacted his agent and adviser Mark Steinberg regarding Tiger's contact with Galea.
"And full cooperation whenever they need me,'' Woods said, "but as of right now, they have not asked for my time.''
Woods won the 2008 U.S. Open while in extreme pain from the left knee injury and had reconstruction surgery on the ACL. He was out of golf until February 2009.
"It wasn't reacting properly,'' Woods said of the healing. "So I had the PRP injection.''
That entails withdrawing blood from the individual, putting it into a centrifuge to spin the plasma into entries and re-injecting it.
"And then in December [2008], I started to train, running again, and I tore my Achilles in my right leg. I then had PFRP injections through the year.
"I kept re-tearing it through the year and throughout the summer. I used tape most of the year to play, and I also went to hyperbaric chambers after the injections. It does help you heal faster. And I did everything I possibly could to heal faster so I could get on the golf course.''
Despite his ailments, Woods won six tournaments last year and led the PGA Tour in earnings.
Woods spoke Monday before a reserved-seat media crowd of some 200 that filled the Masters interview room, one of the few times it ever has been packed.
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