Profile: Tiger Woods - Golfer & Television Personality

Tiger Woods may appear at first glance to be an odd topic for an Arts & Entertainment profile. Certainly Woods rose to prominence as a golfer and became an icon in the sports world, but he has also appeared in many commercials and can, therefore, rightfully be considered an actor. However, he has also been a focal part of television news shows and other media since Thanksgiving when news first leaked about his dalliance with Rache Uchitel and his subsequent car crash under peculiar circumstances. One might almost say Tiger Woods is starring in his own unofficial reality show as there have been daily rumors, speculations and updates on TV and the internet since Thanksgiving of 2009, causing the Tiger Woods infidelity scandal to become one of the top 10 entertainment stories of 2009.

Tiger Woods - The Early Years

Born December 30, 1975, in Cypress, California, Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods began playing golf at the age of two and he started his entertainment career when he was famously trotted out to put against comedian Bob Hope in his first television appearance on "The Mike Douglas Show." He also appeared on ABC's "That's Incredible" when he was five. He has been a fixture on talk shows, sports shows, magazine covers and commercials since he turned 21.

Tiger Woods Marries Elin Nordegren

Tiger Woods met Elin Nordegren at the British Open in England in 2001. Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren was born on January 1, 1980 in Stockholm, Sweden and was working as an au pair to Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik when the couple met. In November of 2003, Tiger proposed to Elin while they walking at sunset in the South African Shamwari Game Reserve. Their sunset wedding was held a year later under a pagoda covered with red roses on the 19th hole of the Sandy Lane Golf Resort on the Caribbean island of Barbados. Celebrity guests at the wedding reportedly included Charles Barkley, Bill Gates, Michael Jordan, and Oprah Winfrey. Hootie & the Blowfish performed as part of the wedding festivities.

Tiger Woods Loses Camelot

For the rest of the decade Tiger Woods reigned in a kinds of golfer's Camelot with his lovely wife and children at his side, honing a squeaky-clean image that, combined with his talent, made Woods one of the most popular celebrities of the 21st century. However, on November 25, 2009, The National Enquirer published a story alleging an affair between Tiger Woods and Rachel Uchitel. Given the source, many people were inclined not to believe the rumors, but a day and half later on Thanksgiving, Woods crashed his Cadillac Escalade under unusual circumstances, and shortly thereafter, women began to come forward saying they, too, had affairs - many of them long-term - with Tiger Woods.

Tiger Woods Disappears

After the accident Tiger Woods disappeared from public sight, saying he would appear in no further tournaments, even his own charity golf tournament. This combined with Elin's hiring a divorce lawyer and making a hasty exit to Sweden with the Woods children has lent credibility to the charges of Woods' infidelity and caused him to lose many of his sponsorships. Meanwhile, friends and sources reported to be close to Elin have come forward to say the divorce rumors are confirmed.

Tiger Woods in Vanity Fair

Right as speculation was starting to die down a little, Vanity Fair published a photo of a muscled, bare-chested Tiger Woods, wearing a tight black cap, pumping iron and staring grimly into the camera. The naked-looking, tough-guy staring out of that photo shows a side to Tiger Woods we haven't seen before. (Click on the photo above to see the 2nd image which is of the Vanity Fair cover.)

Who Is Tiger Woods?

Tiger Woods was recognized around the world for his confident smile, his competitor's spirit, his family-man image, representing all that was good and admirable in the sports world. As the second decade of the 21st Century dawned, a new Tiger Woods emerged, marred by accusations of infidelity, shrouded in secrecy, and separated from his family and friends. It will be interesting to see who Tiger Woods becomes when he reemerges into the public eye.

Sources:
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,710377,00.html
http://marriage.about.com/cs/celebritymarriages/p/tigerwoods.htm
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Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren Go Separate Ways
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