Tiger Woods and Olympic downhill skiier Lindsey Vonn have confirmed that they are a couple, putting to rest a tabloid rumor that Woods had been trying to woo back ex-wife Elin Nordegren.
“I guess it wasn’t a well-kept secret but yes, I am dating Tiger Woods,” Vonn posted Monday on her Facebook page. “Our relationship evolved from a friendship into something more over these past few months and it has made me very happy. I don’t plan on addressing this further as I would like to keep that part of my life between us, my family and close friends. Thank you for understanding and your continued support! xo LV.”
She also posted pictures of her with Woods. Woods’s Facebook page also contained pictures of the couple and a statement that appears mostly to be a request for privacy.
“This season has been great so far and I’m happy with my wins at Torrey and Doral,” Woods posted on his Facebook page. “Something nice that’s happened off the course was meeting Lindsey Vonn. Lindsey and I have been friends for some time, but over the last few months we have become very close and are now dating. We thank you for your support and for respecting our privacy. We want to continue our relationship, privately, as an ordinary couple and continue to compete as athletes.”
The couple had been spotted together on several occasions late last year, prompting Vonn to say in her weekly Denver Post World Cup diary that she and Woods were “just good friends”. She explained that Woods had been looking for a ski teacher for his two kids and she referred him to her brother Reed Kildow at the Vail ski school.
Vonn, 28, was married to fellow Olympic skiier Thomas Vonn in September 2007. In November 2011 they announced their divorce which became final on January 9, 2013.
Vonn personally won an Olympic gold medal in downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, along with a bronze in the super G. She has also won a personal gold in each of those events at the 2009 world championships. She also won a team gold at the Olympics and two team golds at the world championships. A serious injury to her right knee at last month’s world championships puts into question her pospects for the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Woods, 37, is half Asian through her Thai mother. His father, now deceased, was three-quarters African American and one-quarter native American. Woods was married to Nordegren, 33, for nearly six years before divorcing in August 2010 in the wake of a scandal involving multiple infidelities during his PGA tour travels.
The revelation about Woods and Vonn comes just a week after the media learned that Nordegren is dating coal billionaire Chris Cline, 53. Cline has four children from two prior marriages. His first wife died of breast cancer in 1987. He divorced his second wife in 2000.
Both Nordegren and Cline live in North Palm Beach, Florida. About two months earlier the National Enquirer had reported Woods was trying to win back Nordegren with the offer of a $200 mil. pre-nuptial payment. There seemed to be some possibility of a reunion in February when the couple were spotted at a local sporting event with their two toddlers.
