Imago Tiger Woods has achieved great success in his professional life, but a brief peek into his personal life reveals a different story. Throughout his professional career, Woods has faced numerous rumors. From his contentious divorce from ex-wife Elin Nordegren to his separation with former girlfriend Erica Herman, to his former caddie, Steve Williams, admitting that Woods treated him like a slave (though he later denied this).
There have been many things that show the jumbled relationships that he has had. Now, 25 years after their abrupt separation, the 15-time major winner’s former manager, Hughes Norton, has described the ruthless reality of Tiger Woods’s emotions. The author of Rainmaker weighed in, “It’s just so bizarre the way Tiger severs relationships with people in his life, whether it’s caddies, girlfriends, or managers.”
In his book Rainmaker, the iconic golf manager described how on September 26, 1998, a “emotionless” and “zombie-like” Woods knocked on the door of the Isleworth Clubhouse and informed him that he was no longer needed. They never talked again. Norton recalled that night, saying, “The worst part, honestly, was that there was no explanation.” When Woods made his debut in 1996, the two worked together; however, Norton dropped the golfer two years later.
Norton told Today’s Golfer that he would like to sit down with Tiger today and ask, ‘Flashback 25 years, what was the reason? You never indicated to me that anything was amiss or that you were unhappy. That leads to my sentiments of betrayal because it was extremely difficult to digest.” Norton’s account of how he and Woods parted ways and the golfer stopped his ties with everyone echoes what Erica Herman claimed about her split in the fall of 2022.
Tiger Woods and his past relationships
In 2023, Erica Herman filed a lawsuit against Tiger Woods, claiming that she was ‘tricked’ by Woods’s staff to pack bags for a short vacation to the Bahamas. However, once she was out of the house and reached the airport, she was informed that she was not to be returned to the mansion and could not contact the golfer and the kids ever again. The two were in a tumultuous legal relationship.
Steve Williams, Woods’s caddie of almost 12 years also claimed that he was dumped abruptly. After Woods took a short break in 2011, Williams decided to caddie for someone else. At first, Woods said it was not an issue, Williams told the New Zealand Herald. However, a few days later, his agent called to say, if he worked with anyone else his tenure with Woods would end. Williams didn’t take it to heart and still went to the job, but he got another call to be informed that he “no longer had a job.”
The two are now on excellent terms, but they had no communication at one point. Throughout his 48-year life, Woods’ irregular romances have been publicized multiple times.
