Tiger Woods is a great dad, ex-wife says four years after divorce

Friday, 23 May 2014 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: The ex-wife of Tiger Woods said she has a good relationship with the golfer and called him a “great father” in her first media comments on their relationship since their marriage was dissolved four years ago after his serial cheating. Elin Nordegren, 34, told People magazine in an interview published on Wednesday that she has put Woods’ publicized affairs in the past. “I have moved on, and I am in a good place,” Swedish born Nordegren said. “My relationship with Tiger is centered around our children, and we are doing really good - we really are - and I am so happy that is the case. He is a great father.” Woods, 38, and Nordegren divorced in 2010, less than a year after his string of at least a dozen affairs came to light in one of the biggest sex scandals in the world of sports.

The revelations tarnished the highly crafted image of Woods, one of the world’s richest and most popular athletes, costing him tens of millions of dollars in endorsements at the time and providing months of fodder for tabloids. The couple has two children - daughter Sam, 6, and son Charlie, 5 - and live near each other in Florida. Nordegren, a former model and nanny, married Woods in 2003 and her divorce settlement with Woods was estimated to be worth $100 million. “In the beginning, you tamp down the animosity for the kids’ sake,” said Nordegren, who went through intensive therapy at the time of the split and says she still sees a therapist weekly. “I’m not going to deny that I went through the wringer. But I don’t think I doubted we’d end up here,” she said. “That was always my dream, that the kids can have two loving parents that show respect for each other. And I feel that’s what they have.” Woods, a 14-time major champion winner, is now in a relationship with Olympic alpine skier Lindsey Vonn.

Evert not surprised by McIlroy’s split with Wozniacki

Reuters: Golfer Rory McIlroy’s decision this week to call off his wedding with former world number one tennis player Caroline Wozniacki is no surprise, according to Chris Evert who suffered similar heartache 40 years ago.

Eighteen-times grand slam champion Evert was engaged to fellow American tennis champion Jimmy Connors in 1974, the year both won the Wimbledon title, but the so-called golden couple cancelled their wedding. McIlroy, twice a major champion, announced on Wednesday that he had changed his mind about marrying Dane Wozniacki despite the wedding invitations having already been posted. “It doesn’t surprise me,” Evert, who was 19 when engaged to Connors, said in an ESPN conference call ahead of next week’s French Open. “I look back at Jimmy and I. To look at two players that are in the prime of their career and are striving to be No. 1, (you) don’t see each other. “I mean, I was married in my 20s to my tennis. That was the only way I could put all my emotions and energies into that goal. I was in awe that it (McIlroy and Wozniacki’s relationship) worked as long as it did. “I can’t believe it. They must be just different kind of people. I understand 100 percent, you’re married to your career. You’re using your emotions. You’re using the mental capacity that you have. “You’re putting everything into it. That’s what it takes to be the best.” Evert has since been married three times, to former British tennis player John Lloyd, downhill skier Andy Mill, with whom she had three sons, and Australian golfer Greg Norman -- all of them ending in divorce.