Elin Nordegren

About Elin Nordegren

Elin Nordegren Woods (born January 1, 1980, in Stockholm, Sweden) is a former model, better known as the wife of the professional golfer Tiger Woods. Elin's mother, Barbro Holmberg, is a politician and former migration and asylum policy minister of Sweden, while her father, Thomas, is a radio journalist who has served as bureau chief in Washington, D.C. for the Swedish Broadcasting media.

Elin and her twin sister Josefin had been working as nannies for Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik when he introduced her to Woods during the 2001 British Open. In November 2003, Tiger and Elin attended the Presidents Cup tournament in South Africa and became officially engaged when Tiger proposed at the luxury Shamwari Game Reserve. On October 5, 2004, Tiger and Elin were married by the 19th hole of an exclusive golf resort in Barbados. The ceremony reportedly cost over $1.5 million. Privacy was achieved by buying out the island's sole helicopter charter company and by booking the entire hotel - 200 rooms ranging in price from $700 to $8,000 per night.

On June 18, 2007, the Woods announced the birth of their daughter, Sam Alexis Woods, early that morning, just a day after Woods finished second in the 2007 U.S. Open.

Shortly after Nordegren's relationship with Woods became public, nude photographs of a woman resembling Nordegren began circulating on the internet, with text claiming it was, in fact, her. Nordegren, whose modelling work did include bikini photo shoots, vehemently denied that she has ever posed nude. The nude photographs claimed to be of Nordegren actually depict Playboy magazine model Kim Hiott, and most are derived from the 2000 edition of Playboy's "Nudes" special edition. Despite this identification and repeated denials from Nordegren and Woods, in September 2006 (immediately prior to the 2006 Ryder Cup) Irish magazine The Dubliner published an article "Ryder Cup Filth for Ireland," which displayed the nude photographs of Hiott and again claimed they were of Nordegren. Woods decried the story as "unacceptable," and his agent Mark Steinberg said, "Everyone knew it wasn’t her. It's plain as day." Steinberg also said the couple was considering legal recourse against the magazine. The Dubliner issued an apology for the story, saying that they had printed the photos as a "satire of tabloid publishing."

Elin won the lawsuit and as part of the settlement accepted by a Dublin court, The Dubliner must publish its lengthy apology in a variety of venues, including in its next issue. If the magazine fails to meet the conditions the award will be increased to $366,500 and the publishers will have to pay Nordegren Woods’ legal costs.

In December 2009, her marriage to Woods was the subject of extensive media coverage after Woods admitted to infidelity, which had been revealed following his single-vehicle accident near the family's Florida home.[23] After Woods' infidelity was revealed, Jesper Parnevik was quoted as having said, "I'm kind of filled with sorrow for Elin since me and my wife are at fault for hooking her up with him, and we probably thought he was a better guy than he is." Woods announced he would take an "indefinite break" from golf to work on his marriage.[23] These efforts were unsuccessful, however, as Nordegren and Woods finalized their divorce in the Bay County Circuit Court in Panama City, Florida, on 23 August 2010.[24] Nordegren's legal team included her sister, Josefin (who is licensed to practice law in England and Sweden) and several of Josefin's U.S. colleagues at international law firm McGuireWoods.[25]

Nordegren had two children with Tiger Woods when they were married. In June 2019, it was announced that Nordegren was expecting her first child with former National Football League player Jordan Cameron.[28] Nordegren gave birth to a son, Arthur, in October 2019.[29] In December 2022, Nordegren gave birth to their second child, reportedly a daughter.[30] The couple also has a third child together.[31]