Tiger apologizes for "Transgressions". Golf star releases statement saying he has let his family down, and apologizing for "transgressions." Msnbc.com's Courtney Hazlett has the details.
Now that Tiger Woods has admitted to "Transgressions", many wonder what is next for his marriage. Many sources are saying that for now, wife Elin Nordegren, who is often a fixture on the 18th green at golf tournaments, is standing by her man.
“She and Tiger have had problems in the past, this is obviously as bad as it’s ever been, but she’s not leaving as of now,” said one person with knowledge of the couple’s marriage over the years.
A report in the Chicago Sun Times claims that “intense marriage counseling” is taking place, but Elin’s motivation might also be linked to her personal bank account.
“The links legend's spouse is reportedly being paid a hefty seven-figure amount — immediately transferred into an account she alone controls — to stick with her husband,” Sun-Times columnist Bill Zwecker reported. He goes on to write that Elin demanded and is getting a total rewrite of the couple’s prenuptial agreement. The couple wed in 2004 and have two children.
Reportedly, the couple had an agreement that stipulated they must remain married for 10 years in order for Elin to collect a settlement of $20 million, and that is the part of the settlement being negotiated.
While it would seem obvious for Woods to have a prenup, no one close to Woods has confirmed that the agreement exists.
One veteran reporter remarked, “Everyone keeps saying ‘oh yeah, he’s got to have the (ironclad) prenup,’ and I think the media is all like, ‘he went to Stanford, he can’t be that dumb.’ But maybe he does and maybe he doesn’t.”
The continuing revelations of alleged Tiger Woods infidelities has placed the golfing megastar's management team in what one insider called "panic mode" early Wednesday morning.
Despite the release of photographs of Woods looking a bit too friendly with a woman in a Las Vegas nightclub, and a recording — allegedly of a phone call Woods made to former "Tool Academy" reality show alum Jaimee Grubbs — the Woods source insists "Tiger still believes stonewalling the press on this is the best approach."
Woods did, however, issue a statement Wednesday morning on his Web site, saying “I haven't been true to my values” and “I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart," he said.
• Also, don't look for Woods' wife, Elin, to be moving out of the couple's Windermere, FL., mansion anytime soon. The links legend's spouse is reportedly being paid a hefty seven-figure amount — immediately transfered into an account she alone controls — to stick with her husband.
On top of that, my source indicated Elin Nordegren Woods, the mother of Tiger's two children, has demanded — and is getting — a total rewrite on the couple's prenuptial agreement making the incentives for her to remain Mrs. Tiger Woods even more enticing.
At this point, the couple needed to remain married for 10 years in order for Woods' wife to collect a splitsville settlement of $20 million. I'm being told that time frame has been shortened — and the dollar amount increased "substantially."
• Perhaps most important of all, the Woodses have already begun intense marriage counseling — at their home — with a counselor who has been conducting sessions several times daily.
(US Weekly Mag.)The day before reports of his alleged infidelity first surfaced -- Tiger Woods, 33, phoned his off-and-on girlfriend, 24 year-old Los Angeles cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs, and left a message in which he begged her to change her voicemail greeting.
"Hey, it's Tiger," he says in the voicemail, obtained by Usmagazine.com (listen above). "I need you to do me a huge favor. Can you please take your name off your phone? My wife went through my phone and may be calling you. So if you can, please take your name off that. Just have it as a number on the voicemail. You got to do this for me. Huge. Quickly. Bye."
In this week's issue of Us Weekly (on newstands now) Grubbs details their 31-month affair. She reveals that they first hooked up in April 2007, and went on to have 20 sexual encounters.
She also shares her evidence, including more than 300 racy text messages. One from Woods begins: "I will wear you out..."
"I loved how we got along," Grubbs tells Us Weekly. "But I knew, in the back of my mind, there could never be just us. There would always be the wife, or somebody else."
The billionaire golfer wed model Elin Nordegren, 29, in 2004; they have a two-year old daughter, Sam, and a nine-month old son, Charlie. The couple's argument over Woods' alleged affair with NYC hostess Rachel Uchitel, 34, reportedly led to his one-car accident near his home in Florida this Friday.
RadarOnline.com has obtained what it says are sexual text messages that Tiger Woods sent to one of his alleged mistresses, cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs. The racy messages leave no doubt as to what the sender is thinking about.
one message read one from Tiger read: "I will wear you out...when was the last time you got (bleeped)?” one message read. Another one from Tiger read, “Send me something very naughty…Go to the bathroom and take (a picture)".
A Los Angeles cocktail waitress tells Us Weekly magazine that she had a steamy 31-month fling with Tiger Woods and has a voicemail recording and text messages to prove it.
Jaimee Grubbs, now 24, tells Us Weekly she began having an affair with Woods, 33, in April 2007.
She tells Us Weekly they went on to have 20 sexual encounters.
Grubbs, who recently appeared on VH1's Tool Academy, also tells Us Weekly she has more than 300 racy texts from Woods, who wed model Elin Nordegren in 2004.
Talk of the alleged affair with New York City club manager Rachel Uchitel reportedly led to Woods' one-car accident near his home in Florida this past Friday.
TMZ reported that Woods and his wife were arguing about the alleged fling just before the crash.
I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.
Although I am a well-known person and have made my career as a professional athlete, I have been dismayed to realize the full extent of what tabloid scrutiny really means. For the last week, my family and I have been hounded to expose intimate details of our personal lives. The stories in particular that physical violence played any role in the car accident were utterly false and malicious. Elin has always done more to support our family and shown more grace than anyone could possibly expect.
But no matter how intense curiosity about public figures can be, there is an important and deep principle at stake which is the right to some simple, human measure of privacy. I realize there are some who don't share my view on that. But for me, the virtue of privacy is one that must be protected in matters that are intimate and within one's own family. Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn't have to mean public confessions.
Whatever regrets I have about letting my family down have been shared with and felt by us alone. I have given this a lot of reflection and thought and I believe that there is a point at which I must stick to that principle even though it's difficult.
I will strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves. For all of those who have supported me over the years, I offer my profound apology.
In response to multiple women coming forward and claiming to have had affairs with him, Tiger Woods has released a statement on his Web site in which he expresses regrets for his "Transgressions".
"I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart," Woods said. "I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone."
After making a plea for privacy, Woods ended the statement by saying, "I will strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves. For all of those who have supported me over the years, I offer my profound apology."
The statement came one day after news emerged regarding the cover story of Us Weekly magazine, which hits newsstands Wednesday, alleging that a Los Angeles cocktail waitress had a 31-month affair with the world's No. 1 golfer.
Jaimee Grubbs told the magazine she met Woods at a Las Vegas nightclub the week after the 2007 Masters — two months before Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren, gave birth to their first child. Grubbs claims to have proof in 300 text messages.
On Wednesday, the magazine published what it said was a voicemail provided by Grubbs that she said was left by Woods on Nov. 24, three days before his early morning car crash. In the voicemail, a man says to Grubbs:
"Hey, it's, uh, it's Tiger. I need you to do me a huge favor. Um, can you please, uh, take your name off your phone. My wife went through my phone. And, uh, may be calling you. If you can, please take your name off that and, um, and what do you call it just have it as a number on the voicemail, just have it as your telephone number. That's it, OK. You gotta do this for me. Huge. Quickly. All right. Bye."
The Associated Press could not confirm Woods was the caller.
Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, did not immediately return an e-mail requesting comment.
An AP reporter went to a residence in Escondido, California, seeking comment from Grubbs. A person who identified himself as Cody came to the door but didn't open it, said she wasn't there.
When asked whether Us Weekly paid Grubbs for her story, spokeswoman Cheryl Crowley said, "As a policy, we do not comment on obtaining stories or photo transactions."
Grubbs wasn't the only woman to allege an affair with Woods. Reports in Life & Style magazine and the New York Post said a woman named Kalika Moquin had also come forward.
The magazine, quoting an associate of Moquin's, said that Woods "wasn't happy in his marriage or his home life and that there was just so much pressure on him."
"They've hooked up a bunch of times" over the months, the source said of Woods and Moquin. "Tiger told Kalika that married life isn't all it's built up to be."
Another source told the Post that Moquin and Woods have been an item "for some time."
Woods, meanwhile, remained in seclusion in the exclusive gated community of Isleworth, while some of the world's top golfers were in Southern California preparing for the start of a tournament he hosts. Woods, citing injuries from the crash, issued a statement Monday saying he would not attend or play in the Chevron World Challenge.
Woods, who was briefly unconscious after the crash, never spoke with investigators, who asked to see him on three different occasions. Instead, he provided his driver's license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance, as required by Florida law.
The patrol "is not pursuing criminal charges in this matter nor is there any testimony or other evidence to support any additional charges of any kind other than the charge of careless driving," said Sgt. Kim Montes, a spokesman for the highway patrol. "Despite the celebrity status of Mr. Woods, the Florida Highway Patrol has completed its investigation in the same professional manner it strives to complete each traffic investigation."
After consulting with the local prosecutor's office, investigators also decided there was insufficient evidence to issue a subpoena that would have given them access to records from his hospital visit after the crash, Montes said.
The allegations in Us Weekly of an affair with Grubbs came on the heels of last week's National Enquirer story alleging Woods had been seeing New York nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel, who has denied it.
That story came out just two days before Woods wrecked his SUV in the early morning hours following Thanksgiving. The accident — and Woods' refusal to answer questions — fueled speculation among tabloids and gossip Web sites about a possible dispute between Woods and his wife, who told police she used a golf club to smash the back windows of the SUV to help him out.
But Montes said there were "no claims of domestic violence by any individual" stemming from the accident. And an attorney for the neighbors who called 911 said Woods did not appear to be driving under the influence and showed no signs of having been in a fight.
Attorney Bill Sharpe said neighbors found Nordegren kneeling beside her husband, upset about his injuries. Sharpe said Woods appeared woozy and had scratches on his face and that his wife was trying to console him.
But Woods remained the subject of intense media scrutiny, and the Us Weekly report didn't help his appeal for privacy.
According to the magazine, Grubbs said she was 21 when she was approached by Woods at a Las Vegas nightclub on April 13, 2007. The magazine said the meeting "progressed into a clandestine on-and-off affair" that lasted nearly three years and included hundreds of texts.
"I hope he can forgive me for doing this and I know he probably can't," Grubbs is quoted as saying. "Whatever happens with Elin, I hope Tiger and I can reconnect and remain good friends."
Grubbs recently appeared on VH1's reality series, "Tool Academy."
Sources: MSN, Fox Sports, Sports By Brooks, Yard Barker, Tiger Woods.com, US Weekly Mag., National Enquirer, TMZ, Golf Digest, Media Take Out, AP, Google Maps
The woman, Jaimee Grubbs, claims she met Tiger in Las Vegas in April, 2007. The woman -- a cocktail waitress who was 21 at the time -- began what she says was a long-running affair with Tiger.
According to Us Weekly, Grubbs has more than 300 text messages from Tiger -- who married Elin Nordegren in 2004.
The magazine, which comes out tomorrow, claims Grubbs had 20 sexual encounters with Tiger. Us Weekly has photos, racy texts from Tiger, as well as a voicemail from November 24, in which Tiger suggests his wife might be on to the alleged affair.
Grubbs has appeared recently on VH1's "Tool Academy."
A Los Angeles cocktail waitress tells the new Us Weekly (on newsstands Wednesday) that she had a steamy 31-month fling with Tiger Woods and has a voicemail recording and text messages to prove it.
Jaimee Grubbs, now 24, tells Us Weekly she began having an affair with Woods, 33, in April 2007.
She tells Us Weekly they went on to have 20 sexual encounters.
Grubbs, who recently appeared on VH1's Tool Academy, also tells Us Weekly she has more than 300 racy texts from Woods, who wed model Elin Nordegren in 2004.
Sources: US Weekly Mag., TMZ, Sports By Brooks, Yard Barker
Tiger Woods' Neighbor's Attorney speaks out about the 9-1-1 Call.
<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=873b6985-04da-46bb-ae5f-8bc9ba53fd1f&from=IV2_en-us_foxsports_articles" target="_new" title="Tiger's tale continues">Video: Tiger's tale continues</a>
Tiger Woods will be cited for careless driving in a car crash outside his Orlando-area mansion, but will not face criminal charges, the Florida Highway Patrol said Tuesday.
Woods faces a $164 fine and four points against his driver's license, not close to enough to have it suspended. The citation closes the investigation of last week's crash.
The patrol "is not pursuing criminal charges in this matter nor is there any testimony or other evidence to support any additional charges of any kind other than the charge of careless driving," Sgt. Kim Montes said.
According to an accident report, Woods crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree at 2:25 a.m. Friday. The airbags did not deploy and Woods' wife told Windermere police she used a golf club to smash the back windows to help him out.
Woods withdrew Monday from his own golf tournament, citing injuries from the crash.
Since the accident, tabloids and gossip Web sites have fueled speculation about the events leading up to it, including that there may have been a domestic dispute between Woods and his wife.
The crash came two days after The National Enquirer published a story alleging that Woods had been seeing a New York nightclub hostess, and that they recently were together in Melbourne, where Woods competed in the Australian Masters. The woman, Rachel Uchitel, denies the affair.
An attorney for the neighbors who dialed 911 after the crash said Woods did not appear to be driving under the influence and showed no signs of having been in a fight. Montes said there were no claims of domestic violence and insufficient evidence to subpoena any medical information.
"Despite the celebrity status of Mr. Woods, the Florida Highway Patrol has completed its investigation in the same professional manner it strives to complete each traffic investigation," Montes said.
Bill Sharpe, an attorney for the neighbors, said Woods' injuries were "consistent with a car wreck and inconsistent with him being beat up. The scratches on his face were consistent with someone who maybe was in a minor car accident and hit his head on the windshield. ... None of his injuries looked like he was beat up by his wife."
Sharpe said neighbor Linda Adams and her two adult sons went outside their home in the exclusive gated community of Isleworth after hearing the crash and Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren, asked them to call the 911 emergency number.
He said the neighbors found Nordegren kneeling beside her husband, upset about his injuries. Sharpe said Woods appeared woozy and had scratches on his face and that his wife was trying to console him. The Adamses wrapped Woods in a blanket and made sure he didn't move.
Tabloid speculation has focused on whether Woods and his wife were fighting before the accident.
"One thing we want to make clear is that Mrs. Woods' attitude was consistent with her being concerned about her injured husband," Sharpe said. "Mrs. Woods was trying to help him. Mrs. Woods was worried about her husband. She was concerned."
Sharpe said the Adams family did not see the crash and did not see Woods' wife with a golf club. He said he was hired to get the message out that the Adams family members have told investigators everything they know about the crash and aren't hiding anything.
When healthy, he has made his season debut at Torrey Pines every year since 2006. The San Diego Invitational this year is scheduled the week of Jan. 25. That could mean Woods avoids the media for 10 weeks.
Neighbors in the exclusive Isleworth Community said Tuesday they did not know if Woods was home. There were no cars in his driveway as the highway patrol held its news conference, and there was little sign that any accident had taken place — the fire hydrant Woods struck had either been repaired or replaced. The grass was perfectly trimmed.
The complex's private security force patrolled the plush community in marked cars and golf carts, the primary source of transportation around Isleworth.
Are Tiger's endorsements in danger? Courtney Hazlett and David Dusek of Golf.com talk with Contessa Brewer about how his accident and the controversy surrounding it could endanger his lucrative corporate deals.
Citing injuries caused by his weekend car crash,Tiger Woods withdraws from his own charity golf tournamnet. Plus, his alleged mistress Rachel Uchitel denies she hooked up with Tiger.
Tiger Woods still isn't talking. Now he's not playing, either.
Woods withdrew Monday from his own golf tournament, citing injuries from a car crash near his Florida home. His decision comes as questions continue to mount regarding what exactly happened in the wee hours of the morning last Friday — questions that most certainly would have been asked of him had he played.
The world's No. 1 golfer posted a statement on his Web site saying that unspecified injuries prevented him from playing in the Chevron World Challenge. He had been scheduled to hold a press conference Tuesday for the tournament, which he hosts annually for a small, invited, field.
"I am extremely disappointed that I will not be at my tournament this week," Woods said. "I am certain it will be an outstanding event and I'm very sorry that I can't be there."
Tournament officials said fans who bought advance tickets with the hope of seeing Woods could get refunds beginning next week. Those who keep their tickets will get a 20 percent discount when they buy them next year.
Woods sustained cuts and bruises when he crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree at 2:25 a.m., outside his home in an exclusive, gated community near Orlando. He was treated and released from a hospital, and has not been seen in public since.
The first tournament of the 2010 PGA Tour is the SBS Championship in Hawaii, an event for winners from the previous year, beginning Jan. 7, but Woods wasn't expected to be there. He's more likely to play at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif., the week of Jan. 25.
Woods released a statement Sunday saying the accident was his fault and asked that it remain "a private matter." But with the Florida Highway Patrol still investigating and the media in full pursuit, Woods may not get his way.
Woods even faced questions from fans who left comments on his Web site. Most voiced support for him, but some said he should address the questions about his own actions and those of his wife, Elin Nordegren, before and after the accident.
Woods hasn't answered questions from Florida troopers, either, turning them down three days in a row when they came to his house.
Four cars were parked in Woods' driveway Monday, but no lights appeared to be on inside. A new fire hydrant had already replaced the one that Woods plowed into. A dirt hole and an orange barricade remained in the old hydrant's place.
Woods, who both hosts and plays in the Chevron World Challenge, was there last year even though he couldn't play because he was recovering from knee surgery. His absence this year will be the first since the tournament — which has only an 18-player field — began in 1999. He was replaced by Graeme McDowell.
Though he cited injuries from the accident in withdrawing, Woods didn't specifically say what those injuries included. The neighbor, who called 911 after Woods ran over the hydrant and hit a tree, said he was unconscious and laying outside his SUV. His wife told Windermere police she used a golf club to smash the back windows to help him out.
"This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way," Woods said in a statement Sunday, his first since the crash. "Although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible. ...
"I appreciate all the concern and well wishes that we have received," he said. "But, I would also ask for some understanding that my family and I deserve some privacy no matter how intrusive some people can be."
The reference to "false, unfounded and malicious rumors" may have involved a story published last week in the National Enquirer alleging that Woods had been seeing a New York nightclub hostess, and that they recently were together in Melbourne, where Woods competed in the Australian Masters.
The woman, Rachel Uchitel, denied having an affair with Woods when contacted by The Associated Press. On Sunday, she flew to Los Angeles and was met by high-profile attorney Gloria Allred at the airport.
Still, even the release of the 911 tape and Woods' statement failed to answer several basic questions about the accident:
# Where he was going at that time of the night?
# How did he lose control of his SUV when it wasn't going fast enough to deploy airbags?
# Why were both rear windows of the Cadillac Escalade smashed?
# If it was a careless mistake, why not speak to state troopers trying to wrap the investigation?
As Tiger Wreck Watch 2009 lurches into its fourth day with little new information, fans and media are combing over every element of this case like symbologists in a Dan Brown thriller. There's brick wall after brick wall in this story, but one of the largest and most well-fortified is this: just who is Elin Nordegren Woods, anyway?
If you were to design the perfect wife for a privacy-hungry superstar like Tiger Woods, she'd look a whole lot like Elin -- low-key, accustomed to celebrity, and, from all appearances on the golf course, totally devoted to her husband's career.
Which is what makes the current questions about her recent behavior -- why did she smash a window in Tiger's Escalade? Is she responsible for his injuries? Why did she change her story to police? -- so challenging. We'd like to think the best of her, but we simply don't know much about her.
As the Daily Beast notes today in a story entitled "The Mysterious Mrs. Woods," there's only been one major story written about Elin Nordegren Woods -- a 2004 Sports Illustrated profile -- and even that story centered on how little anyone outside of her inner circle knows about her.
The facts:
She grew up in Stockholm, and while she did some modeling in her teens, the idea that she was a "Swedish supermodel" is one of those urban legends that grows in the retelling. "She wasn't a high-profile model," as the Beast quotes a source from a New York modeling agency, and, to be fair, she didn't seem to be particularly interested in modeling as a career.
But she was around the world of golf long before she met Woods, serving as the Nanny to golfer Jesper Parnevik. She met Tiger at the 2001 British Open, and it wasn't exactly a romantic introduction for the ages.
According to SI, Tiger was so nervous about asking her out that he had a friend do it for him. Initially, she declined. But Woods persisted, she relented, and they married in a lavish $1.5 million ceremony in Barbados. That wedding was the stuff of tabloid heaven, with Hootie and the Blowfish as the house band and Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley in attendance.
Being married to the world's richest athlete apparently has done little to change Elin's public persona. We don't see her doing reality shows, we don't see her on the covers of magazines every month, and aside from releasing some photos, she doesn't parade around her children – two-year-old Sam and nine-month-old Charlie – seeking publicity. It's refreshing, really, to see someone in the limelight who's so apparently unconcerned with the fame-hungry world of modern celebrity.
And this brings up the question of obligation. Is Elin Woods obligated to share anything about herself with the world just because of the man she married? Of course not. Their private life is just that: private. Anything that goes on behind closed doors is their business, and theirs alone ... as long as no crimes have been committed. Without speculating on the Woods case, any time there is a reasonable suspicion of domestic violence, it does indeed become a public matter.
What's definitive is that some of the events of recent days haven't been behind closed doors, they've taken place on public streets. And because Tiger Woods is a worldwide celebrity, anything he does in public, from hitting a golf ball to hitting a fire hydrant, draws worldwide notice. Combine the events of Friday morning with the allegations published last Wednesday that Woods had been pursuing an affair with another woman, and you've got a case that police simply cannot ignore.
In the world of celebrity culture, curiosity fills in the gaps in a vacuum of information. Was it the wisest idea for Elin Woods to share absolutely nothing about herself for all these years? Perhaps, perhaps not; that's a decision everyone watching this case has to make for themselves.
What's certain is that the Woods camp would love a mulligan on many elements of this case, and the image that's been created -- or, more accurately, not created -- of Elin up until Nov. 27 may very well be at the top of that list.
Even more perplexing than Tiger Woods’ strange behavior early Friday morning is that of his elegant and discreet wife, Elin Nordegren. Jacob Bernstein on the couple’s once seemingly perfect relationship.
If the news of Tiger Woods’ alleged marital spat early Friday morning was surprising, it wasn’t just because the man involved in the car crash is perhaps the best behaved athlete the Western world has ever seen.
Since she turned up on his arm in early 2002, Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren, has been not just a cipher but a consummate match for her husband—classy and elusive, and from a smart, well-to-do Swedish family.
From the start of their relationship, she’s shown as little interest in publicizing her high-profile relationship as her husband, despite tabloid interest that’s followed her over the course of their eight-year relationship.
As Sports Illustrated noted when it profiled her in 2004, the year she married Woods: “Even in the insular world of the PGA Tour, [Nordegren] is a shadowy figure, talked about by everyone but close to very few.” One golf-world source told the magazine at the time, “She’s become like Greta Garbo. When she started dating Tiger, it was like there was an unwritten agreement she wouldn’t say anything to anyone. She’s still nice, but when you talk to her, you don’t get anything out of her.”
Amazingly, in this tabloid age, that article is practically the only substantial piece of journalism to appear about her for half a decade.
That might be why one golf-industry acquaintance describes her as such a good match for her husband, at least until last week. And it’s part of why this person and others are so confounded by reports that Nordegren may have “gone ghetto” on Woods after allegedly hearing that he was having an affair. Leaving the house in the middle of the night, Woods crashed his car into a tree, sustaining minor injuries. Over the course of the weekend, more details emerged, but little was clear, even after the golf star put out a statement Sunday taking the blame for what happened and insisting that his wife tried to help him.
If this was true, why had a neighbor, and not his wife, called the police? What was she doing with that golf club that smashed the back window of the car? Was she trying to free him from the vehicle? How on earth did this happen?
“You could point to a thousand candidates for a professional athlete to choose from for a wife and she was maybe No. 1,” one golf-industry acquaintance tells The Daily Beast.
The person goes on to describe Nordegren as “lovely and intelligent,” an “omnipresent” attendee at her husband’s matches—at least until the birth of the couple’s first child, in 2007—who was always there but “never stepped into the spotlight or did anything wacky.”
Nordegren didn’t even complain publicly when she suffered complications during that pregnancy. She wound up giving birth in the hospital on her own via Caesarean section, while Woods remained on the golf course competing in the U.S. Open.
Says the source: “I can only speak from their public appearances and very few private ones, but they seemed not to have any kind of conflict. What we think happened probably did, but there was no evidence of it. This wasn’t like Dennis Rodman, who lived out his hostile relationships in the press.”
So who is Nordegren, 29, and what is her story?
She spent her first years in a small town 50 miles north of Stockholm, where she was the older, by 10 minutes, of identical twins. Her father, Thomas, is a successful journalist who has served as the Washington bureau chief for Swedish Broadcasting media. Her mother, Barbro Holmberg, is a prominent figure in Swedish Democratic circles who became the country’s migration and asylum minister. Thomas and Barbro split when Elin and her sister Josefine were 6 years old, though it didn’t have any apparent effect on their daughters, both of whom seemed, until this week at least, to be those rare people around celebrities without any discernible serotonin deficiencies.
Although Nordegren modeled briefly in her teens, and has been referred to repeatedly in press clippings as a “former model,” she didn’t exactly make a career of it. “She wasn’t a high-profile model,” says one New York-based modeling source from a well-known agency.
Partly, this is because she didn’t seem to care about it. Bingo Rimer, the photographer who discovered Nordegren, told SI: “Elin doesn’t care about modeling. She never has. Even the few things I got her to do, I had to drag her into the studio. Being famous, the whole celebrity thing, she really and truly does not care about that.”
Nordegren did some commercial work, posing in swimsuits and whatnot, but she went to college anyway, at the prestigious Lund University, and took a job in a Stockholm clothing store called Champagne, where she met Mia Parnevik, wife of Swedish golf sensation Jesper Parnevik, who hired Nordegren as the nanny to their children.
The Parneviks were sort of like the Posh and Becks of Swedish golf; he was known as much for his disco-inspired trousers and strange hats as for his playing acumen. His wife is something of a shopaholic. (Hence the fortuitous meeting with Nordegren.) In 2001, at the British Open, Nordegren met Woods, whose penchant for blondes was well-documented.
At first, Nordegren was reportedly uninterested in Woods. As Mia Parnevik later noted, her thoroughly competent nanny displayed no interest whatsoever in the sport. She also had hopes of becoming a child psychiatrist and was concerned about appearing to be a “gold-digger.”
Further, the famously awkward Woods did not make a smooth approach. According to a close friend of the Parneviks who spoke to SI, Woods was so nervous about asking her out, he had a friend do it for him. “Her reaction was, ‘What the hell was that?’” the magazine quotes a close source as saying. “She thought it was so weird and pathetic. Of course she said no.”
But Woods persisted, flooding the Parneviks with calls, and she relented.
It turned out they had much in common. Like Woods, the golf-industry source notes, Nordegren was sporty. She’d played soccer and knew a lot about golf from her time with the Parneviks. “She was also conservative by nature, like him,” the person says.
Months after the romance blossomed, she returned to Sweden for Christmas, told Rimer of the relationship, and—displaying a press savvy befitting a future high-profile wife—worked out a deal so that only photographs she approved would be released. (Later on, nude photos of a woman looking like Nordegren surfaced, but they were apparently fakes. She sued for libel and won.)
A year later, the happy couple went on safari in South Africa, where they disappeared for 20 minutes, worrying ranger Nhlanhla Khumalo, who thought they might have been eaten by tigers. When they reemerged, Khumalo later told People magazine, Nordegren was wearing a giant engagement ring. “The diamond was half as big as my finger,” he said.
The 2004 wedding that followed was fit for a king. Held in Barbados, it reportedly cost $1.5 million. Hootie and the Blowfish played (well, everyone says they shared a certain squareness) and fireworks lit up the sky. Guests included Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley. The afterparty was held on—you guessed it—a golf course. The couple spent their wedding night aboard Woods’ $20 million yacht, which he christened “Privacy.”
It’s something the couple is no doubt missing as the tabloid feeding frenzy continues.
HTV cameras caught up with Rachel Uchitel as she arrived at LAX airport over the weekend meeting with attorney Gloria Allred. Uchitel is refuting claims that she had an affair with Tiger Woods after the National Enquirer labeled her the other woman.
Sources: HTV, E! News, ET, Bing, Hulu, National Inquirer, Sports By Brooks, Yard Barker, WFTV, MSN, Fox Sports, ESPN, Media Take Out, Youtube, Google Maps
Tiger Woods finally gave his side of the story Sunday - on his Web Site, not to police - and took the blame for an "embarrassing" car crash that gave him cuts, bruises and public scrutiny like never before.
His statement failed to clear up any questions about the middle-of-the-night accident outside his Isleworth estate in which his wife told police she used a golf club to smash the back windows of the Cadillac SUV to help him out.
"This situation is my fault, and it's obviously embarrassing to my family and me," Woods said on his Web site. "I'm human and I'm not perfect. I will certainly make sure this doesn't happen again."
The statement was posted around 2 p.m. Sunday, about an hour after Woods' attorney told the Florida Highway Patrol that for the third straight day golf's No. 1 player would be unavailable to talk to troopers.
This time, the meeting was not rescheduled.
Even so, Sgt. Kim Montes of FHP said troopers went to Woods' $2.4 million estate anyway, only for attorney Mark NeJame to turn them away. The attorney gave troopers Woods' driver's license, registration and insurance as required by law for such accidents.
Woods said the crash was a private matter, and he intended to keep it that way.
"Although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible," he said. "The only person responsible for the accident is me. My wife, Elin, acted courageously when she saw I was hurt and in trouble. She was the first person to help me. Any other assertion is absolutely false."
Even with his first public comments on the 2:25 a.m. Friday accident, Woods left several questions:
# Where he was going at that time of the night?
# How did he lose control of his SUV at such a speed that the air bags didn't deploy?
# Why were both rear windows of the Cadillac Escalade smashed?
# If it was a careless mistake, why not speak to state troopers trying to wrap the investigation?
"We have been informed by the Florida Highway Patrol that further discussion with them is both voluntary and optional," Mark Steinberg, his agent at IMG, said in an e-mail. "Although Tiger realizes that there is a great deal of public curiosity, it has been conveyed to FHP that he simply has nothing more to add and wishes to protect the privacy of his family."
Woods' wife turned troopers away from their home in the exclusive gated community outside Orlando on Friday, the day of the accident, because she said he was sleeping. Steinberg called troopers en route to Woods' house on Saturday and postponed the meeting until Sunday.
"We're just continuing our traffic crash investigation," Montes said. "If we have somebody who we feel is pertinent to the investigation, then we will interview them."
She said the 911 caller was interviewed Saturday, and investigators might speak with other people who were at the scene as well.
The FHP released the 911 call from an unidentified neighbor on Sunday.
"I have a neighbor, he hit the tree. And we came out here just to see what was going on. I see him and he's laying down," the neighbor told dispatchers without ever identifying the victim as Woods.
Asked if the victim was unconscious, the neighbor replied, "Yes."
Part of the call were inaudible because of a bad connection. At one point, the voice of a woman is heard yelling, "What happened!" (READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE)
"We're just trying to get the police here right now," the neighbor says to the woman. "We don't know what happened. We're figuring that out right now. I'm on the phone with the police right now."
According to the FHP accident report, Woods had just pulled out of his driveway when he struck a fire hydrant and then a tree. Woods said he had cuts, bruising and "right now I'm a little sore."
Montes said the Woods' car was towed for "safekeeping," and authorities have already documented where the damage is on the vehicle and the point of impact.
The accident came two days after the National Enquirer published a story alleging that Woods had been seeing a New York night club hostess, and that they recently were together in Melbourne, where Woods competed in the Australian Masters.
Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred confirmed she was representing Uchitel when she was reached by the AP on Sunday.
"She is with me in L.A.," Allred said later in an e-mail to the AP. "We plan to meet and then we'll decide on the next step, which we do not plan to announce to the press."
Woods is to host his Chevron World Challenge this week in Thousand Oaks, Calif., which benefits his foundation. Woods' news conference had been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, although it was not clear if he would still play, or even attend.
"We do not know if Tiger is playing; we are anticipating a great week of competition," said Greg McLaughlin, the tournament director and president of his foundation.
In a statement via e-mail to CNBC, tournament sponsor Chevron's spokesman Morgan Crinklaw said any announcement about Woods' participation would be made by his foundation.
Uchitel arrived at Los Angeles International Airport late Sunday morning, where she was met by Allred and escorted out of the baggage claim area and into a black car. Uchitel did not speak to reporters except to ask that she be left alone.
Aside from occasional criticism of his temper inside the ropes, Woods has kept himself out of the news beyond his sport. In an October posting on his Facebook account, Woods wrote, "I'm asked why people don't often see me and Elin in gossip magazines or tabloids. I think we've avoided a lot of media attention because we're kind of boring. ..."
In a telephone interview, Woods' father-in-law, radio journalist Thomas Nordegren, told The Associated Press in Stockholm that he would not discuss the accident.
"I haven't spoken to her in the last few ... " Nordegren said about his daughter, Elin, before cutting himself off. "I don't want to go into that."
Woods' mother-in-law Barbro Holmberg also refused to address the matter.
"She doesn't want to comment on private issues like these," Holmberg's spokeswoman Eva Malmborg said.
More than two dozen media and a cluster of television trucks camped outside the gates of Isleworth on Saturday waiting for authorities to visit with Tiger Woods and clear up questions about crashing his SUV into a neighbor's tree.
The Florida Highway Patrol said it expects to release tapes of the 911 call on Sunday, and it will investigate the crash that left Woods' mouth bloodied as a traffic accident.
Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Montes said investigators are "trying not to get on the rumor mill."
Police said the world's No. 1 golfer smashed his Cadillac into a fire hydrant and a tree near his $2.4 million mansion at 2:25 a.m. Friday.
Plenty of vivid details from the car crash that sent Woods to the hospital have emerged. His lips were cut, and Windermere police chief Daniel Saylor said Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren, used a golf club to smash out a back window and help Woods from the car.
There are also plenty of questions. Troopers planned to speak to Woods about the wreck Saturday afternoon, and by 2:45 p.m. Saturday, two patrol vehicles had entered Woods' gated community.
Montes said the investigation should be finished within the next couple of days.
Woods is to host his Chevron World Challenge next week in Thousand Oaks, Calif., which benefits his foundation. Woods' news conference had been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, although it was not clear if he would still play, or even attend.
"We do not know if Tiger is playing, we are anticipating a great week of competition," said Greg McLaughlin, the tournament director and president of his foundation.
One of Woods' neighbors, who didn't want her name to be used, said it was quiet in front of his house Saturday. She said there are usually two or three cars parked outside his home and that was the scene now as well.
The neighbor said everyone in the gated community was discussing Woods' crash.
According to the patrol, Woods had just left his Florida mansion when he lost control of his 2009 Cadillac and hit a fire hydrant, then a tree on his neighbor's property. The report said alcohol was not a factor.
The patrol reported the accident occurred at 2:25 a.m. Friday morning and classified the injuries as serious. The first word from Woods' camp — some 13 hours after the crash — was that it was a "minor accident," and he was in good condition after being treated and released.
Saylor said his two officers found the 33-year-old Woods lying in the street with his wife, Elin, hovering over him.
Saylor said Woods' wife told officers she was in the house when she heard the accident and "broke the back window with a golf club." He said the front-door windows were not broken and that "the door was probably locked."
"She supposedly got him out and laid him on the ground," he said. "He was in and out of consciousness when my guys got there."
In a telephone interview, Woods' father-in-law, radio journalist Thomas Nordegren, told The Associated Press in Stockholm that he would not discuss the accident.
"I haven't spoken to her in the last few ... " Nordegren said about his daughter, Elin, before cutting himself off. "I don't want to go into that."
Woods' mother-in-law Barbro Holmberg also refused to address the matter.
"She doesn't want to comment on private issues like these," Holmberg's spokeswoman Eva Malmborg said.
Asked at a Friday evening news conference if the couple could have been arguing, Saylor said he had no knowledge of that. The couple, married five years, have two children.
The accident came two days after the National Enquirer published a story alleging that Woods had been seeing a New York night club hostess, and that they recently were together in Melbourne, where Woods competed in the Australian Masters.
The woman, Rachel Uchitel, denied having an affair with Woods when contacted by the AP.
"I resent my reputation is getting completely blasted in the media," she said during a telephone interview late Friday. "Everyone is assuming I came out and said this. This is not a story I have anything to do with."
Uchitel said she was in Melbourne two weeks ago with clients and never saw Woods the entire time she was there.
"The story stands for itself," National Enquirer executive editor Barry Levine told the AP on Saturday.
Woods, coming off a two-week trip to China and Australia earlier this month, is host of the Chevron World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, Calif., which starts Thursday. He is scheduled to have his press conference Tuesday afternoon at Sherwood Country Club. Steinberg said he did not know if Woods planned to play next week.
Woods rarely faces such private scrutiny, even as perhaps the most famous active athlete in the world.
He usually makes news only because of what he can do with a golf club. Few other athletes have managed to keep their private lives so guarded, or have a circle of friends so airtight when it comes to life off the course.
Woods' $2.4 million home is part of an exclusive subdivision near Orlando, a community set on an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course and a chain of small lakes. The neighborhood, which is fortified with high brick walls and has its own security force, is home to CEOs and other sports stars such as the NBA's Shaquille O'Neal.
Woods has won 82 times around the world and 14 majors, becoming the first player of black heritage to win a major at the 1997 Masters when he was 21.
He won six times this year after missing eight months recovering from reconstructive surgery on his left knee. Even though he failed to win a major, Woods said he considered this a successful year because he did not know how his knee would respond.
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