Divorced. Single dad. Golf game still to be determined.
And so, after nine months of turmoil over his extramarital affairs, now begins the next chapter in the life and times of Tiger Woods.
In a hearing that lasted no more than 10 minutes in a Florida judge’s chambers, Woods and his Swedish-born wife officially divorced Monday.
“We are sad that our marriage is over and we wish each other the very best for the future,” Woods and Elin Nordegren said in a joint statement.
The divorce was granted in Panama City, about 375 miles from their Isleworth home outside Orlando, where Woods drove his SUV over a fire hydrant and into a tree Thanksgiving night. That set off shocking revelations that sports’ biggest star had been cheating on his wife through multiple affairs.
Woods’ life and golf game have been in disarray since.
He and Nordegren were married Oct. 5, 2004, in Barbados and have a 3-year-old daughter, Sam, and an 18-month-old son, Charlie.
Terms of the divorce — such as how much it will cost Woods — were not disclosed. They said only that they will “share parenting” of their children.
Nordegren, who once worked as a nanny for Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik, asked to have her maiden name restored as Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren.
The sordid sex scandal cost Woods three major corporate sponsors — Accenture, AT&T and Gatorade — worth millions of dollars, and he lost his stature as the gold standard in sports endorsements. A month after the scandal became public, Woods spent two months in therapy at a Mississippi clinic with hopes of saving his marriage.
“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,” they said in the statement.
Woods is to play this week at The Barclays, his first tournament as a single man in nearly six years. He needs a good performance just to get out of the first round of the FedEx Cup playoffs, which he won the previous two times he played. He also is trying to show he is worth picking for the Ryder Cup, where wives take on a visible role.
Since returning to golf at the Masters, Woods has not come close to winning a tournament.
