Tiger Woods said he received an apology from former caddie Steve Williams over a racial slur when the two shook hands yesterday.

"We talked this morning, we met face to face and talked about it, talked it through," Woods said, ahead of the Australian Open yesterday.

Williams had said, "It was my aim to shove it up that black arsehole" at an awards ceremony in Shanghai last Friday, explaining why he had celebrated Adam Scott's Bridgestone Invitational win in August so enthusiastically.

"It was a wrong thing to say, something that we both acknowledge," Woods said. "He did apologize. It was hurtful, certainly, but life goes forward."

Woods said it was not up to him to call for sanctions against Williams. The PGA and European tours have said no action would be taken against Williams.

"Stevie's certainly not a racist," Woods said. "There's no doubt about that. It was a comment that shouldn't have been made and was certainly one that he wished he didn't make."

He was asked how two people so close together for more than a decade - Williams was on Woods' bag for 13 of his 14 majors over 13 years - could become so distant so quickly. Woods fired Williams in July.

"That's a great question, I don't know that one," Woods said. "It was a tough decision to make to go in a different direction professionally. I wasn't playing, I was injured, and I was trying to come back but I missed most of the major championships and he didn't want to miss them. That's understandable...

"He obviously went with Adam," he added.

"He's in a good spot right now. Adam's playing very well, he's just won a golf championship and professionally we've moved in different directions. It's just one of those things where we'll see what time does and as we all know, time does heal wounds."

Asked for the source of the animosity between the pair, Woods replied: "That's between Stevie and me. We talked it through, and we'll leave it at that."

Woods said he is injury-free for the first time in months, allowing him to practice at an accelerated rate. On Monday, Woods had said, "I've had a ruptured ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), I've had a broken leg, a torn Achilles, and strained ligaments over the last five years.

"I've been rehabbing for so long I haven't been able to train."

Yesterday, Woods said, "My bad rounds need to be under par, not over par.

"That's something I haven't done through this stretch."