Models, cocktail waitresses, and an Olympic gold medalist. Tiger Woods has had a long list of exes — but not all of them had kind things to say about the golf legend.
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00:00Models, cocktail waitresses, and an Olympic gold medalist, Tiger Woods has had a long list
00:05of exes, but not all of them had kind things to say about the golf legend. At the beginning of
00:10his professional golf career, Tiger Woods was known for one thing, his skills on the course.
00:14But in the early 2000s, the sports legend's personal life became tabloid fodder when he
00:19and model Elin Nordegren began dating. In 2004, the couple got married in Barbados.
00:24They welcomed two children together and were happily married for five years,
00:27until news broke that Woods had been sleeping with several other women.
00:31I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated.
00:36Though she didn't speak about it publicly, Nordegren made her opinions about the situation
00:40known by taking a golf club to her cheating husband's car. In an interview with People,
00:44however, Nordegren instead suggested that she was simply trying to get her husband
00:48out of the locked vehicle. The couple later divorced, with Nordegren receiving a settlement
00:52of $100 million. About five years after the incident, Nordegren opened up to People about
00:57her life and her relationship, telling the outlet,
00:59I loved him. We had so much fun, and I felt safe with him. Our wedding day was one of the
01:03happiest days of my life." However, coming to terms with the reality of her marriage and how
01:07it ended proved to be difficult. She went on to add,
01:10I felt embarrassed for having been so deceived.
01:12Nordegren eventually moved on, and in 2019, she gave birth to her third child,
01:17whom she shares with boyfriend Jordan Cameron.
01:20The most infamous of all of Tiger Woods' mistresses is Rachel Uchitel. Uchitel was a
01:24VIP host, and her job was to host the rich and famous while partying at the club where she worked.
01:29One night, Woods walked in, and as Uchitel explained in the HBO documentary Tiger,
01:34their affair began shortly after.
01:36Here he was in my bed, and he was my Tiger."
01:43Once news broke of her relationship with Woods, everything changed.
01:47My name was getting dragged through the mud."
01:50Though she regrets her behavior, Uchitel feels the blame was largely put on her and very little
01:55on Woods. Although she wanted to share her perspective on the scandal, she was offered
01:59$8 million for her discretion, according to The New York Times. However, after legal fees,
02:04taxes, and other complications, the final figure she received was said to be much smaller.
02:08Several years have passed since her affair with Woods made headlines,
02:11but Uchitel has had difficulty moving on.
02:13In 2023, the former nightclub manager launched her podcast,
02:18which is dedicated to telling the stories of people who have been reduced to a headline.
02:21And while the podcast primarily focuses on spotlighting others,
02:25Uchitel admitted that she drew inspiration from her infamous scandal with Woods.
02:29I think that it's very interesting how
02:31the man is able to sort of have a comeback, and the woman, it takes a lot more."
02:36In an interview with The New York Post, Uchitel revealed that her professional
02:40life also suffered in the wake of the affair. She told the outlet,
02:43People thought me too scandalous to hire. I earned no money. My name got me in the door,
02:47but everyone thought me too scandalous."
02:49She's now dedicating her podcast to helping people with similar experiences get their lives back.
02:54Post-affair and car crash, several more women came forward claiming that they had an affair
02:59with Woods. One of those women was Jamie Junkers, a model based in Las Vegas. In 2009,
03:04a Life & Style report claimed the golf legend had paid her to sleep with him,
03:07and that she used the money for plastic surgery. The model subsequently made an
03:11appearance on Today to share her side of the story. Junkers described alcohol as a driving
03:15force behind her involvement with Woods on the night they met. They immediately spent
03:18the night together and started their affair, which continued for a year and a half.
03:22Describing their dynamic as one between a boyfriend and girlfriend,
03:25the Vegas resident claimed to have loved Woods. She detailed parts of their relationship in her
03:29book Captured by Grace, The Jamie Junkers Story, where she also suggested that the
03:33fallout from the affair led her into a dark place of addiction.
03:36Model Kory Rist also made an appearance on Today to tell about her alleged affair with Woods.
03:41As Rist explained, it began after someone on Woods' payroll approached her in a nightclub
03:45and said the sports icon wanted to meet her. The two began their affair shortly thereafter.
03:49Their relationship continued for about six months until she ended things. Although Rist didn't
03:54realize there were other women Woods was involved with, she did know he was married,
03:57and that was the most difficult part for her. Through tears, she even apologized to
04:01Nordegrin during her Today appearance, admitting,
04:04I had no idea it would be like this.
04:06These days, Rist largely stays out of the spotlight, but in 2017,
04:09the model weighed in on Woods' DUI arrest. She told the Daily News,
04:13I was definitely surprised and saddened when I heard the news this morning.
04:16I don't like to see people suffer.
04:18Jamie Grubbs was another woman who came forward in 2009 to share details about her relationship
04:23with Woods. The Los Angeles cocktail waitress opened up to Us Weekly, claiming that she not
04:27only had an affair, but also had receipts to prove it. Grubbs had both voicemails and text
04:31messages from Woods, and appeared on Extra to dish about her time with him. Like Corey Rist,
04:35Grubbs was sorry for how her behavior affected Woods' wife and family.
04:39I'm not gonna ever say what I did was okay.
04:41Since the affair, Grubbs has stayed out of the spotlight. Aside from her link to Woods,
04:45her biggest claim to fame was a feature in Maxim magazine.
04:48Tiger Woods is proof that no matter what, you can still find love. After his affairs
04:52and divorce from his wife, he began dating Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn.
04:56We just continue to push each other, and it's a really positive relationship in that way."
05:01The pair were only together for about three years, before splitting in 2015.
05:05In a Facebook post, Vonn wrote,
05:07"'I will always cherish the memories that we've created together. Unfortunately,
05:11we both lead incredibly hectic lives that force us to spend a majority of our time apart.'"
05:15In 2022, Vonn released a memoir, Rise, My Story. The book focused on her illustrious career,
05:21but skipped past specific details of her relationship with Woods. She told The Washington
05:25Post,
05:26"'It's important to keep things like that as private as I can.'"
05:28Despite maintaining a dignified silence regarding their relationship,
05:32she remains one of the few exes to only have positive things to say about the golf champ.
05:36"'Yeah, we're friends.'"
05:38Following his split from Lindsey Vonn, Woods dated stylist Kristen Smith for about two years.
05:42According to TMZ, Smith signed a nondisclosure agreement, which legally precludes her from
05:47sharing any details about their relationship with the public. So, even though Smith would
05:51like to speak out, she isn't allowed to legally. According to The Sun, the stylist reportedly
05:56claimed that Woods cheated on her and wanted the agreement made invalid so she could spill on his
06:00alleged dirty deeds. However, the allegations will likely go unconfirmed, considering the legal
06:05obligation she faces. Shortly after his split from Kristen Smith in 2017, Woods was linked
06:10to Erika Herman. The couple made their first public appearance at the President's Cup in
06:14September of that year. At the beginning of their relationship, Woods suffered a life-threatening
06:18car accident that left him with broken legs and the possibility of never being able to golf again.
06:22Woods made a full recovery, and he was even able to participate in the Masters again. This came
06:27as a huge surprise to most people, but not Herman. She told Golf Magazine,
06:31"'I mean, nothing ever surprises me about him, but he just worked so hard to be here.
06:35That was the one thing I knew. Once he got here, he wasn't going to go home.'"
06:38Despite his long-standing history with women,
06:40Woods' relationship with Herman seemed to be pretty blissful.
06:44After five years together, however, Woods and Herman ended things in 2022. That year,
06:51the couple got tied in a legal battle when Herman filed a $30 million lawsuit accusing
06:55Woods of deceiving her into leaving their shared Jupiter Island home. Court papers obtained by the
06:59New York Post revealed the athlete encouraged Herman to go on a short vacation, only to lock
07:04her out upon her return. This violated an alleged verbal agreement that assured Herman would be
07:08allowed to live in the house for a total of 11 years. At the time of her filing, Herman argued
07:13that she had five years left in the verbal tenancy agreement.
07:16"'She has an uphill battle in front of her.'"
07:18In a separate filing, Herman accused Woods of sexually assaulting and forcing her to sign an
07:22NDA during their relationship. In the filing, Herman asked that the NDA be voided, citing
07:26the Speak Out Act, which nullifies such agreements in the case of sexual harassment or assault.
07:31Herman would later take back her claims, however,
07:33writing that she was never sexually harassed or abused by Woods.
07:37In 2009, outlets like TMZ also linked Woods to Las Vegas nightclub manager Kalika Mokeen.
07:43Mokeen, however, maintained that she never had an intimate relationship with the golfer.
07:47She told Us Weekly in December of that year,
07:49"'Sometimes I'll deal with celebrities on my job on a day-to-day basis,
07:52just to touch base with people, but it's completely untrue that there's anything
07:55more than a professional, how are you doing, are you enjoying your time in Vegas, conversation.'"
08:00Despite her protest, another source claimed that Mokeen was lying to protect her image.
08:04The source told Us Weekly,
08:05"...she was absolutely sleeping with him. She brags about it."
08:08We might never know the truth about this relationship,
08:11but it's safe to say Woods has a sordid past.