There have been many rumors speculating, just what happened during the marriage of pro golfer Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren, but one thing is for sure, we never hear about her side of the story. Perhaps there is a lot more to the golfer’s former wife than first meets the eye…
The woman behind the golfer
This innocent young woman was thrown into the limelight instantly when she married golfing legend, Tiger Woods. However, what made Elin Nordegren so famous was not their marriage. There is a life behind Elin that tells far more a story than the unfortunate happenings in 2009.
Meeting the right people
Elin began working at a local retail store after she had been accepted into the university. It was there that she bumped into the right person at the right time. She got talking to a female shopper who looking for a nanny, but she lived in the States. This wasn’t just any shopper; she was the wife of the Swedish golfer, Jesper Parnevik. Elin took the job instantly, dropping out of school, so she could move to the U.S.
Boyfriend
The move was not easy, and Elin said goodbye to a great life, and a loving boyfriend. This was when her new golfing family decided they would introduce Elin to someone that was dying to meet her. Tiger Woods. The golfer had been asking to be set up as soon as he heard about her, and she finally gave in to his requests in 2001.
No connection
It was definitely not love at first sight for the former model when she met Woods for the first time. She had admitted that she had no interest in golfers, especially celebrity golfers, as she had always wanted a quiet and private life. Elin even turned Woods down when he first asked her out, but he must’ve done something right as two years after they began dating the pair were engaged to be married. Determined to prove his love to his future wife, Woods didn’t hold back on the ceremony.
The wedding
The couple’s wedding ceremony was extremely private, with the paps dying to find out. The pair jetted off to Barbados to enjoy their special celebrations where Woods rented out an entire hotel for a week. There were 110 rooms at the resort which is reported to have cost the sports star around $2 million. Some of the VIP guests included Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan.
The famous photos
During 2006 there was a public controversy over Elin’s previous modeling career. Some revealing photographs were released that were supposedly of Elin from her former modeling days. An Irish magazine ran a story where they claimed it was her in the photos. This didn’t bode well with either Elin or Woods who both had something to say about these nasty accusations.
Destination: compensation
The couple were able to prove that the woman in the photos was actually a previous Playboy model and not Elin. The pair took the magazine to court. Elin was awarded over $180,000 in compensation, as well as the magazine being made to put out a sincere apology for what they had done. The couple decided that rather than keep the money they wanted some good to come from it all so donated the money to charity. Good samaritans.
Two kids
The couple later had two children. Their first child, a daughter named Sam Alexis Woods, was born June 18, 2007. Their second child, a son called Charlie Axel Woods, was born two years later on February 8, 2009. Both of the children took after their dad as they have since both learned how to play golf; Charlie has even taken part in state golfing tournaments.
Secrets unfolding
Thanksgiving night 2009 was the evening that life would change forever for couple. A few days before, Elin had read an article in the National Enquirer that spoke of Woods having an affair with Rachel Uchitel, a nightclub hostess in New York. Even though Woods had tried to reassure his wife that it was just hearsay, Elin couldn’t let it go. Over the next couple of days, Elin began searching through her husband’s phone where she uncovered some unbelievable truths about what her husband had really been up to.
The chase
During that fateful night, Elin allegedly chased her husband out of the house with a golf club, but Woods was able to make it into his car before his wife caught up with him. However, it was very late at night and Woods had taken a sleeping tablet, which meant that when he got behind the wheel it was not going to turn out well. He ended up crashing into a fire hydrant and knocking himself unconscious. The authorities were called as well as paramedics. Woods was left in a critical condition, but only walked away with a chipped tooth after Elin allegedly threw his cell phone at him.
Serial cheater
Woods was as it turned out, not only a cheater – but a serial cheater. Initially, Elin thought Woods was having an affair with one woman – maybe two. Yet along with everyone else, she had absolutely no idea the depth of Woods’ cheating ways, and the sheer amount of women with whom he was conducting affairs with. The numbers exposed themselves, slowly, within the coming days, weeks, and months.
Back In Time
Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren was born on January 1, 1980, in Stockholm, Sweden, moments before her twin sister, Josefin. Her father, Thomas Nordegren, was well known in the world of radio journalism, while her mother, Barbo Holberg, worked for the Government. The couple got divorced when Elin was just two years old.
Fit
During her childhood, Elin loved sports, as well as having a love for education. Elin decided to move with her father to Berlin during 1997. Elin decided that she wanted to move back to Sweden where she was spotted by Bingo Rimer, a world famous photographer. It was here that Elin was able to start her modeling career.
Breakthrough
In 2000, Elin was the cover star for a Swedish magazine, but she soon decided modeling just wasn’t the life she wanted. Instead, Elin began working various smaller jobs at supermarkets to give herself the money to support herself financially; Elin had decided to live on her own at a young age. She used her money to put towards her university classes as Elin had chosen to study a child psychology course for her new career.
Paying off his debts
Rachel Uchitel set up a press conference following the incident being reported by the media. However, it was conveniently cancelled after Woods paid the hostess a $10 million silencing fee. But up to nineteen people claimed to have been having an affair with the golfer over the course of his five year marriage, a lot of whom had also claimed they were paid to have a relationship with the sportsman.
Exposed
The media scandal began. One after the other, women came forward, admitting they had had affairs with Woods throughout the years, including those years when he was married to Elin Nordegren. Their stories unfolded and were exposed by the media, much to the disgust of the outraged public.
Sisterly support
Elin found support in her twin sister to help her cope with everything that was happening to her so fast. The sisters took a vacation to the French Alps to go skiing in a bid to celebrate their 30th birthday. Meanwhile, Woods was preparing for his golfing tournament he was participating in, but Elin decided to take the children to Sweden with her.
Twin identity
Josefin Nordegren was born just a few minutes after her twin sister, Elin. The pair grew up together in their home city of Stockholm, where Josefin eventually went on to study law at university. After she graduated, Josefin began working at the same local retail store as her sister. Together the two decided that they would both take the nannying job they were offered so they could move to the U.S. as a pair. This was the first of many moves for Josefin.
Making a move
Josefin and her twin made the move across the pond where they both became the golfing family’s official au pairs. This gained them both citizenship, and she continued to live in America over the next few years, even moving in with her sister when Elin was married to Tiger Woods! However, Josefin decided that life in Ameria wasn’t for her. She made a move to England shortly after her sister got married where she continues to work for a lawyer firm.
Divorce proceedings
Following the media scandal, and headlines everywhere of the scandal, it was hotly rumored at just what Elin Nordegren would be walking away with from the divorce. The couple had initially signed a prenup that meant she would get $20 million, but people speculated that this could all be about to change. Elin was awarded over $110 million in settlement fees as well as joint custody of the couple’s two children.
Court in session
The divorce proceedings took place behind closed doors, and the details of the discussions came to light only after the trial. Woods wanted the trial completely secret and a gag order to be placed on anyone who was a part of it. Woods got his way, and for months, rumors flew as to what the results of the trial might be.
The children
Despite a lot of hear say and countless rumors, it was said that Elin did not attempt to have full custody over the children, “Though she could have if she had wanted to, according to what was being exposed,” a friend of the former couple was quoted as saying. The couple received shared custody.
Crazed rumors
The other topic that was to be discussed, and the one that got the most attention in the media, was the compensation due to Nordegren from Woods. Those same rumors that had Nordegren receiving $750 million rose to a billion dollars, as well, and the media had a field day guessing not only the sum but also the accusation under which Woods would have to pay Nordegren (such as compensation for emotional damages).
Blinded by love
Even after her husband had admitted to multiple affairs, Elin confessed that at the time she was still willing to make her marriage work. Elin also revealed that she is truly a very calm and rational person, but on that night, she just lost control of her emotions. She didn’t have any idea that her husband had been having an affair for all that time, let alone the number he confessed to in the end. We are not surprised she reacted how she did.
Feeling low
Elin went on to admit that the whole ordeal made her feel stupid as she hadn’t figured out what was going on behind closed doors. The stress of it all caused her to lose weight and avoid all television as she didn’t want to see any of the media coverage anywhere, which would have been difficult to avoid.
Her side of the story
Elin said that the couple had their argument inside the house before Woods stormed downstairs. She assumed that he had stayed there, but heard a collision outside the front of their home so got into her golf buggy to go and check what had happened. It was then that she realized her husband had crashed his car, so used the golf club to smash the windows in order to pull him out from the vehicle.
Coming out the other side
Unsurprisingly, it was a long process for Elin to heal from everything that happened. Elin said her biggest push to recover from the events was her children; she wanted to prove you could be content alone and didn’t need to be with someone. Yet navigating single parenthood would be tough.
On good ground
Elin has stated that she believes her ex-husband is a brilliant father to their children so wants to remain friends so they can grow up with a father figure. There is one rule that Elin has set though: Woods isn’t allowed to introduce their children to any of his girlfriends unless the couple is married.
Continued efforts
Later on, in the aftermath of the divorce, it turned out Tiger Woods has had affairs with upwards of 100 women yep you read right. To prove himself worthy of the joint custody he received in court, he spent time in a rehabilitation center, where he said he admitted himself in order to become more focused on his life and especially on his role as a doting father.
Life after the split
After the divorce settlement came through, it is reported that Elin used her new fortune to build a beachfront mansion for her and her children to live in. The home is also less than 30 minutes away from Woods’ house. Elin bought the land but decided to demolish the house that was already there, perhaps as a statement to the world that she was starting afresh in all aspects of her life? She did donate anything that could be salvaged from the former mansion though and gave the contents to a housing charity.
Make the most of it
Before she had the house demolished, in December 2011, Elin allowed volunteers from the charity organization Habitat for Humanity to come into the house, giving them permission to take “whatever it is that they find and think they can use.” By doing this, Nordegren donated hundreds of thousands worth of items to Habitat for Humanity, both to use in homes they build, and to sell of in their auction block, the money from the sales of which goes directly into the charity’s operations.
New love
Elin and Chris Cline began dating when they became neighbors. Chris had made his fortune through coal mining and was estimated to be worth around $1.2 billion. However, things weren’t meant to last as the couple were rumored to split around a year later in 2014. Apparently, this was due to Chris’ constant traveling for work, but it was rumored early last year the two had rekindled their love as they were pictured on a ski trip cozied up together.
Another man?
While it is unclear what is happening between Elin and Chris, adding more confusion to the mix, it appears as though there may be a second man on the scene. Gavin Rossdale. The 52 year old English guitarist is a member of the band Bush, but was also famous for being married to Gwen Stefani. Gavin was in the news for cheating too with the nanny. Despite his past, mutual friends thought the pair would be great together, but it is unclear whether they are still dating.
Unfinished business
Over the years Elin has since tried to continue her education, but something has always happened that puts a stop to it all. Initially, she decided to make the move to America for a chance at a new career. Then during her relationship with Woods, she was an on-again, off-again student as she attempted to finish her degree, but it was put on pause when she had her children, and again when their relationship was coming to an end. It wasn’t until 2014 that Elin was finally able to finish her psychology degree.
Speeding by
Scandal was never too far away. At the beginning of this year, she was pulled over by police for speeding as she was going nearly 60 mph in a 35 mph speed limit. The irony of this story is Elin was pulled over 11 miles away from where her ex-husband had been stopped for driving while under the influence just a few days before. Although there was no jail time, Elin was forced to go on a driving course and pay a $281 fine.
Nothing else matters
After that horrible 2009 Thanksgiving night, both Elin and Tiger want to make sure that their children are the most important thing in their lives. Both Nordegren and Woods do whatever it takes to keep their children at the center of their lives – and that includes the way they manage their relationship.
Focused
You’d think, after what Woods put Elin through, she’d want nothing to do with him. But as a devoted and loving mother, she knows what is most important for them, and following her decision to make her children the center of her life, she knows that they need a father, so he is never far away.
Best friends
In a recent interview on Stephen Colbert’s show, Tiger Woods surprised the host – and the viewers – when he exposed some juicy details about his relationship with Elin. Those details were that he and Elin are “best friends.” “We communicate so much better now, it’s incredible. I wish we would have done that earlier on, but it’s been incredible to have a best friend like that.” It all comes down to what’s best for the kids, he told Colbert, and it seems Elin is in full agreement.
