Tiger Woods said Friday he is taking an indefinite leave from golf to work on saving his marriage, using the word "infidelity" for the first time in a statement posted on his website.

"After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf," Woods said. "I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father, and person."

Woods and his wife, Elin, have been married five years and have a two-year-old daughter and 10-month-old son.

The announcement came two weeks after a car accident that set in motion a shocking downfall for the world's No. 1 player, which has included sordid allegations of numerous extramarital affairs. One woman even shared a voicemail she said Woods left her two nights before his Nov. 27 accident.

Woods has not been seen in public since the accident.

"I am deeply aware of the disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children," Woods said. "I want to say again to everyone that I am profoundly sorry and that I ask forgiveness. It may not be possible to repair the damage I've done, but I want to do my best to try."

The PGA Tour said it supported the decision by its biggest star.

"His priorities are where they need to be, and we will continue to respect and honour his family's request for privacy," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said in a statement, the tour's first public comment since Woods mentioned his "personal failings" on Dec. 2. "We look forward to Tiger's return to the PGA Tour when he determines the time is right for him."

How long Woods will stay away from golf was unclear.

A year ago, he was out of golf for eight months while recovering from reconstructive knee surgery, and television ratings dropped 50 per cent during his absence.

A Canadian doctor who has treated golfer Tiger Woods, swimmer Dara Torres and NFL players is suspected of providing athletes with performance-enhancing drugs, according to a newspaper report.

The New York Times reported on its Web site Monday night that Dr. Anthony Galea was found with human growth hormone and Actovegin, a drug extracted from calf's blood, in his bag at the U.S.-Canada border in late September. He was arrested Oct. 15 in Toronto by Canadian police.

Using, selling or importing Actovegin is illegal in the United States.

The FBI has opened an investigation based in part on medical records found on Galea's computer relating to several professional athletes, people briefed on the inquiry told The Times on condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing a continuing investigation.

The anonymous sources did not disclose the names of the athletes, and Galea told the newspaper "it would be impossible" for investigators to have found material linking his athletes to PEDs.

According to the newspaper, Galea has developed a blood-spinning technique -- platelet-rich plasma therapy -- to help speed post-surgery recovery. The injection-based therapy was originally approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2001.

Galea visited Woods' home in Florida at least four times in February and March, the newspaper reported, to provide that platelet therapy after Woods' agents were concerned by his slow recovery from June 2008 knee surgery.

Asked about Woods' involvement with Galea, agent Mark Steinberg told the newspaper in an e-mail: "I would really ask that you guys don't write this? If Tiger is NOT implicated, and won't be, let's please give the kid a break."

In a statement to ABC News on Tuesday, Steinberg railed against the paper's story.

"The New York Times is flat wrong, no one at IMG has ever met or recommended Dr. Galea, nor were we worried about the progress of Tiger's recovery, as the Times falsely reported," Steinberg said. "The treatment Tiger received is a widely accepted therapy and to suggest some connection with illegality is recklessly irresponsible.

"Apparently the Times, like so many other news outlets on the Tiger Woods story, has abandoned principle."

Woods announced Friday he is taking an indefinite leave from golf to work on his marriage after allegations of infidelity surfaced in recent weeks.

Torres told the newspaper Galea found a previously undiagnosed tear in her quad tendon.

"Excluding draining my knee, he has never treated me, but I did see his chiropractor who did soft-tissue work on my leg," she said in an e-mail to The Times. "That was the extent of my visit with him."

Torres' agent, Evan Morgenstein, told the AP that Torres was not available for comment Monday night.

Brian H. Greenspan, Galea's criminal defense attorney, said an investigation will vindicate his client.

"Dr. Galea was never engaged in any wrongdoing or any impropriety," Greenspan said. "Not only does he have a reputation that is impeccable, he is a person at the every top of his profession."

Galea, who acknowledged he has used human growth hormone himself for 10 years, told the newspaper he never gave any athletes HGH, which is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. And Galea told The Times he has never combined HGH or Actovegin with his platelet treatments.

"All these athletes come see me in Canada 'cause I fix them, and I think people just assume that I'm giving them stuff," he told the newspaper. "They don't have to come to me to get HGH and steroids. You can walk into your local gym in New York and get HGH."

Galea is also being investigated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for smuggling, advertising and selling unapproved drugs as well as criminal conspiracy, The Times reported.

On playing golf today and whether Tiger Woods came up in the conversation:

“Tiger Woods name always comes up because he done messed up the game for every athlete in America.”

Whether he or Michael Jordan have spoken to Tiger Woods:

“Right now Tiger is not really returning phone calls but you have got to understand and I would love to tell him that it is not the end of the world. Tiger has never really faced adversity like this. He has always been like the prodigal son. He has always been so good at what he does that he only focuses on what he does. Sometimes life deals problems. If I was Tiger, I would probably come out and make a statement. Maybe forget about golf for a couple of months and work on his family relationships because it is not going to take long to prepare… You can’t get no better than him.”

On Tiger needing to get back out on the golf course:

“Listen I hope he does get back. The first thing I would do if I get back on the golf course, I would go looking for Jesper Parnevik and I would beat his ass… There is a line that you don’t cross over. Not as another player because you don’t know do that. (Host: Well he was the one that introduced them.) I don’t care! He introduced his nanny to Tiger? We have all had nannies.”

Tiger Woods's wife, Elin Nordegren, plans to split with her husband, according to People Magazine.

Nordegren, who was photographed without her wedding ring this week, is still living in Windermere, Fla. The New York Post reported that moving vans were outside the family's home Tuesday and that Nordegren was giving instructions to the movers.

The holidays may bring a final showdown in the marriage of Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren, a source close to the golfer's wife tells PEOPLE, saying, "She plans to leave Tiger."

Another source says, "She's made up her mind. There's nothing to think about: he's never going to change," PEOPLE reports in its upcoming issue, on newsstands Friday.

Woods and Nordegren have two children, daughter Sam, 2, and son Charlie, 10 months.