In 2009, Tiger Woods’ career almost fell apart after it emerged that
he had cheated on his Elin Nordegren wife with dozens of women
Tiger Woods was at the peak of his career a decade ago when his wife discovered that he had cheated on her.
When his cheating scandal broke, Elin Nordegren chased him out of their house with his own golf club and used it to smash in the windows of his car.
It was a huge fall from grace for the golfer, who had earned a $1billion (£706million) fortune, including £78million in endorsements, had just won the Masters in Australia and that same year he was photographed meeting then-president Barack Obama at the White House.
On Tuesday Woods was in a horrific car crash that left him career-threatening injuries to his right leg and ankle.
The last decade has been a chaotic one for Woods, but once upon a time, his personal life seemed blissful with his beautiful wife, with whom he shares Sam, now 13, and Charlie, 12.
But in November 2009, a story broke that Woods had been having a affair with a New York City nightclub hostess called Rachel Uchitel.
Tiger Woods and his ex-wife Elin Nordegren (Image:
REUTERS)
Woods had a months-long affair with a New York City nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel (Image:Getty Images)
She’d been photographed checking into the same hotel as Woods during the Australian Masters and had apparently told friends she was in love with him.
Before the story was about to hit newsstands, Woods had tried to shut it down and put his wife on the phone with Uchitel, according to The Daily Beast.
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The two women reportedly spoke for half an hour, but Elin wasn’t convinced by her story.
When Woods left his phone unattended she went through it and found the name of another woman, who she contacted.
Woods initially denied the affair (Image:Getty Images)
Elin said nothing and when the story came out the next day, which was Thanksgiving, she was said to be horrified by the details of the affair.
Woods had apparently met Uchitel four months after his son was born.
She had shown friends sexy messages they’d sent each other and told pals Woods was divorcing his wife, it’s claimed.
Erin then reportedly went through his phone again and found some of the messages from Woods, including one that said: “You are the only one I’ve ever loved.
The former couple in 2009, months before the story broke
She’s then said to have woken up Woods, who ran into the bathroom and began texting Uchitel saying he had to leave.
When he tried to leave, Erin reportedly threw his phone at him and chased him with a golf club.
Woods got into his car and crashed it, and when it was found the two back windows had been smashed.
He was knocked out for six minutes and Erin said she had smashed the car’s windows to get him out of the car.
Uchitel been photographed checking into the same hotel as Woods during the Australian Masters
The police tried to interview the couple but they refused to cooperate, and a judge declined the cops’ request for a subpoena forcing them to talk.
After that several more women, including porn stars, strippers and escorts, came forward to say that they too had slept with Woods during his marriage.
Within two weeks, 14 women had come forward.
The scandal had a huge impact on Woods’ career, and he lost endorsement deals with Nike, Gatorade, Gillette and Accenture.
He pulled out of the Chevron World Challenge and checked into rehab for sex addiction that December.
At a press conference the following February, Woods said: “I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did was not acceptable.”
He added: “For all that I have done, I am so sorry. I have a lot to atone for, but there’s one issue I really want to discuss.
“Some people have speculated that Elin somehow hurt or attacked me on Thanksgiving night. It hurts me that people would fabricate a story like that.”
The couple went on to divorce in August 2010.