TIGER WOODS and his former wife, Elin Nordegren, have broken their silence about their divorce, he in a press conference at a golf tournament in New Jersey, she in an exclusive interview with Peoplemagazine.
Ms Nordegren said she has been on an “emotional roller coaster” since the scandal broke last Thanksgiving Day weekend.
"I have been through the stages of disbelief and shock, to anger and ultimately grief over the loss of the family I so badly wanted for my children," she said in excerpts from the interview released by Peoplebefore the magazine reaches newsstands tomorrow.
In 19 hours of interviews over four days in Windermere, Florida, where she has rented a home, Nordegren said she had lost weight, could not sleep and her hair fell out due to the stress of the break- up of her six-year marriage to Woods. She said speculation that she attacked Woods with a golf club on the night of the car crash that made the scandal known was truly ridiculous.
The 30-year-old former au pair said she felt stupid as more and more of Woods’s infidelities were revealed. “How could I have not known anything? The word betrayal isn’t strong enough. I felt my whole world had fallen apart.”
At The Barclays in Paramus, New Jersey yesterday, where he practised for the FedEx Cup play- off yesterday, Woods bumped fists with fans and signed autographs. He stopped smiling, however, during a news conference where he again assumed responsibility for the break-up of his marriage.
“My actions certainly led us to this decision and I have made a lot of errors in my life and that is something I’m going to have to live with.”
Woods twice failed to answer when reporters asked whether he still loved his ex-wife.
“I wish her the best in everything. You know, it’s a sad time in our lives and we’re looking forward to [rebuilding] our lives and how we can help our kids the best way we possibly can. And that’s the most important thing.”
Woods now stands 112th on the FedEx Cup points list and must make a decent finish this week if he is to advance to the next stage in the championship.
He acknowledged that his game was affected by the break-up. “At times it was difficult [to focus]. Certainly you try and block it out as best you can and focus on a shot. But at times it certainly was, yes.”
Nordegren is reported to have received between $100 million and $750 million in the still-undisclosed divorce settlement, which became final on Monday.
"She is very unselfconscious about the fact that yes, she is going to be a very wealthy woman," said Sandra Sobieraj Westfall, the journalist who interviewed Nordegren for People. "It will make it easier for her to get through this, because she can stay home with her children. She doesn't have to go right out and get a job and she can travel, to take her children back to Sweden."
Nordegren also said though that “money can’t buy happiness or put my family back together”.
She is studying for a university degree in psychology and says that despite her ex-husband’s infidelity, “I also feel stronger than I ever have. I have confidence in my beliefs, my decisions and myself.”
The couple’s children, daughter Sam (3) and son Charlie (19 months), live with their mother.
“My immediate plan is for the kids and me to continue to adjust to our new situation. I am going to keep taking classes, but my main focus is to try to give myself time to heal.” She said she intended to remain a private person and would give no further interviews.