Elin Nordegren Talks About The Night Her Marriage To Tiger Woods Unraveled

After the official 2010 end of her and Woods's tumultuous relationship, Nordegren initially avoided talking to the press to protect her children's privacy. “But after everything that happened and everything that was written and speculated — what I did or didn’t do—I felt like setting some things straight,” she said.

After all, her private life had just imploded in front of millions of rabidly curious onlookers. “I’ve been through hell,” Nordegren said. “It’s hard to think you have this life, and then all of a sudden — was it a lie?” To make things worse, people initially believed she knew more than she let on.

Nordegren had to make it clear to the public that she was just as shocked by her husband’s betrayal as everyone else. “I’m so embarrassed that I never suspected — not a one,” she said. "The word betrayal isn't strong enough." Heartbreakingly, she had previously "felt safe" with Woods.

Before his cheating shattered their marriage, Nordegren believed she had a stable life. She met Woods when she was only 21, after she'd spent a year nannying in the U.S; originally, she hails from Vaxholm, Sweden. Her younger self had dreams of writing and studying psychology. But early on, those dreams went on hold.

Marrying Woods meant a full-time lifestyle switch. Nordegren had been taking psychology classes, but they were too much to manage on top of being a new mother and accommodating Woods's busy golf schedule. And, in the aftermath of the relationship implosion, she had to take more time off.

Not only was her career falling by the wayside, but her character was being attacked. After Woods's crash in November 2009, he claimed that Nordegren scratched him and then attacked his Cadillac Escalade with a golf club. Even then, she had to set the record straight.

That public version of events made her angry. “There was never any violence inside or outside our home. The speculation that I would have used a golf club to hit him is just truly ridiculous,” she said. She explained that she acted out of concern for him, not rage.

“Tiger left the house that night, and after a while when he didn’t return, I got worried and decided to go look for him. That’s when I found him in the car. I did everything I could to get him out of the locked car. To think anything else is absolutely wrong,” Nordegren said. But the press was overwhelming her.

Dealing with intense media speculation, on top of everything else, took a toll on Nordegren. Coping with the pressure wasn’t an easy task. She decided to use therapy as one of her tools for processing the relationship fallout, and began going every week for several years.

During the day, around her children, Nordegren wouldn’t let herself be upset, but at night she suffered from insomnia. Though it was difficult, Nordegren was lucky to have a supportive group around her. “First and foremost, the children are the reason I am getting through this,” she said.

“I try to shield them from everything as much as I possibly can, but of course they can feel something is going on,” Nordegren said. “But just having them around, hugging me, kissing me, gives me the strength to get through every day.” Slowly, she was on the mend.

Nordegren's parents and sister also gave her plenty of remote emotional support from Sweden, and she had a group of close friends in the U.S. who were physically present, too. Besides her circle of caring friends and family, Nordegren used several active, healthy habits to process her emotions.

“I love to run and bike, and sometimes for me there is nothing more therapeutic than to go out for a long run,” Nordegren said. “Also, I do a lot of writing. To get my feelings down on paper is often a good way for me to release the anger and frustration.” Clearly, her sharp psychological insights had never gone away.

And, now that she was free of Woods, she could finally pursue her longtime dreams. In 2014, she graduated summa cum laude from Rollins College in Florida, receiving her psychology degree with a 3.96 GPA. This major achievement wasn't the only way that Nordegren liberated herself.

Nordegren is now in charge of her life and dictates what occurs in it. “I’ve not watched one minute of golf,” she said. After being “hunted by the paparazzi” in the months following the reveal of Woods's infidelities, she probably was pretty tired of that pastime. But divorcing a glitzy golf pro did have one payoff.

As part of the divorce proceedings, Nordegren was awarded quite a hefty sum for her ordeal. It’s rumored she was given $100 million or more, though neither she nor Woods would comment. “Money can’t buy happiness,” Nordegren said. “Or put my family back together.” It did help her to rebuild, though.

Nordegren used some of the enormous settlement to build a 21,000-sq.-ft. home in North Palm Beach, Florida. “This is the first time I feel like there’s a good reason for me to be in the news,” she said. She hired Celine Dion‘s decorator and created a peaceful family home for her kids to enjoy.

Nordegren says Woods will always be a part of her life, since the two have shared custody of their children. They only live 25 minutes from each other and regularly talk about the kids' lives and responsibilities. Luckily, their future seems bright.

With the passage of time and plenty of work, Nordegren and Woods are now successfully co-parenting their children. "I have moved on, and I am in a good place," she said. "Our relationship is centered around our children, and we are doing really good — we really are. He is a great father." And her spirit's still unwavering.

"I survived. It was hard, but it didn’t kill me," Nordegren says. She's also been dating again, seeing former football player Jordan Cameron since 2019. The two have a child together — and reportedly, Nordegren found it amusing that gossip magazines were still interested in her life. 

It'd be hard not to be interested: Tiger Woods was one of the biggest athletes of the 2000s, and parents wanted their kids to grow up to be like him. So when the bomb dropped about his cheating scandal, no one wanted it to believe it. But when he spoke out, it was on every screen in America.

“I was unfaithful," Tiger Woods said during a tearful 2010 press conference. "I had affairs. I cheated. I never thought about who I was hurting. Instead, I thought only about myself." The world was stunned. Suddenly Tiger, the golf pro with a legendary life, had a lot of explaining to do.

As cliché as it sounds, Tiger Woods really did have it all in the early 2000s. In 2004, he married Elin Nordegren — a model who had ambitions of being a child psychologist, and in 2005, he won his fourth Masters Tournament. Tiger and Elin would go on to have two children and a messy, messy life together.

Less than two years after getting together, Tiger proposed to Elin. They had a tropical wedding in Barbados in October 2004. "I love the idea of growing together," Tiger had said. "I want to have a relationship where we change for the better and continue to get closer." His dreams didn't stop there.

Besides his desire to get married, Tiger was also excited to be a dad. "We're definitely going to have kids soon," he said. The golfer was such a planner, he even knew how many kids he wanted — and their genders.

"I'd like to have a boy first, then a girl," Tiger said. "I like the idea of a big brother taking care of his little sister. I want them to be close in age, too. I want my kids to grow up close." He seemed to be a serious family man … at the time. 

And before November 2009, Tiger’s media attention was influenced by the success of his golf game and cute pictures of him, Elin, and their growing family. The world bought the image Tiger was selling, an image that imploded once the world learned about his infamous infidelities.

On November 27, 2009, Tiger slammed his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant that was outside of his house in Windermere, Florida. He then claimed to have smashed into a tree, which ruined the outside of his car. The police arrived to find Tiger laying in the street.

He wasn’t alone though. The cops saw Elin was standing over him on the road before he was taken to the hospital. This would be the beginning of the end for the couple’s marriage, as lie after lie started to surface. The dirty laundry was aired for the entire world to see.

Though Tiger was a dedicated father to his children, he definitely wasn’t as dedicated to his wife. During the car crash, the cops started to question Tiger’s version of events. His face was covered in small cuts, which didn’t originate in the crash.

Tiger told the police that Elin confronted him over "seeing another woman” and then scratched his face. Next, he tried to leave in his Escalade and said that Elin "followed behind with a golf club." She then "struck the vehicle several times with the club."

Once this juicy story reached the gossip magazine circuit, the details were released in waves. The National Enquirer reported that Tiger and Rachel Uchitel (below), a nightclub manager and TV correspondent were having an affair — which Rachel’s friends confirmed. She was one of many affairs. Many.

In 2010, the National Enquirer continued their investigation and reported that Tiger slept with 121 women during his six years with Elin. This reportedly came out when Tiger checked himself into rehab for sex addiction, though we’re not sure how Tiger could keep track of that many women. One affair struck Elin particularly hard.

One of the infidelities that upset Elin that most was with their neighbor, Raychel Coudriet. Tiger had known her since she was only 14 — and he was in his 20s. They slept together when she was just 21, and he was in his 30s. (Wow! Grooming much). When Elin found out, she exploded.

Elin confronted Tiger about this particular woman while he was having a dinner with his friends. “She was screaming so loudly that everyone at the table could hear what she was saying,” a source said. The two had hooked up while Elin cared for their newborn son.

The same source claimed that Elin went on to say, “This is the worst betrayal ever. I can’t believe you had sex with that girl in our own neighborhood. That’s it — I’m divorcing you.” Can you blame her? Though Tiger went to sex rehab, Elin was done. Still, they had children. They had to work something out.

In August 2010, the couple finalized their divorce and released a statement, "While we are no longer married, we are the parents of two wonderful children and their happiness has been, and will always be, of paramount importance to both of us." In 2015, he dug deeper.

In that year, Tiger finally opened up about his side of the story with Time magazine. He wished he had a "more open, honest relationship with [his] ex-wife” — Elin probably felt the same way. Tiger felt like communication could have saved them some terrible heartache.

Besides this revelation, Tiger talked about wishing that he had better control of everything that happened in 2009 and how the information was revealed to the masses. He also spoke about being honest with his children about what happened and his dedication to them.

"We both know that the most important things in our lives are our kids," Woods said. "I wish I would have known that back then." On a happier note, he also said that Elin was “one of his best friends” and the two talk on the phone. Tiger did some reflecting.

Above all, Tiger is working on himself for his kids. "We’ve worked so hard, and I’ve shown her how much I love them,” Tiger said. “We’ve worked so hard at co-parenting, to make sure that their lives are fantastic.”

More than a decade after the public fall-out Tiger and Elin have moved on to new romantic partners. Since 2018, he’s been linked to restauranteer Erica Herman.