| Last night the couple were holed up in their current | | | | flown in her son's private jet back to America. |
| home on the gated Florida estate where Woods was | | | | Tiger, himself, was forced to 'slum it' in the first-class |
| injured last Friday after crashing his car, after his wife | | | | section of an Emirates passenger plane as he headed |
| had allegedly gone for him with a golf club after | | | | to another event in Dubai. |
| magazine claims about his adultery. | | | | The source added: 'Elin is beside herself with anger |
| Significantly, the one other person to whom he has | | | | because she can't believe that her mother-inlaw did |
| chosen to confide all the details of his current travails is | | | | not know that Tiger was running round with this other |
| his mother Tida who is said by friends to have been | | | | women when it was right under her nose.' |
| constantly on the phone to her only son from her | | | | Elin has not been seen with her husband at a golf |
| home 2,500 miles away in California. | | | | event for two months. Insiders have also revealed that |
| Which is an added source of discontent to Elin, | | | | the temperamental Miss Nordegren, the daughter of a |
| sources close to the family told me, because a bitter | | | | former Swedish cabinet minister, was involved in an |
| rift has emerged between the two women which, in | | | | embarrassing scene with Woods when he played at |
| part at least, has been responsible for bringing the | | | | the British Open in July. |
| marriage to breaking point. | | | | He was said to have been playing up to his usual |
| In a vivid illustration of the enmity that exists between | | | | world-beating standard at the tournament at Turnberry, |
| them, Elin is said to have 'freaked out' when Tiger's | | | | Ayrshire, until Elin arrived and demanded to know what |
| Thai-born mother demanded her son build a house for | | | | he had been up to. |
| her next to his new mansion. | | | | After her arrival, a clearly riled Woods, who at one |
| It was the pushy Tida, 69, who won the day, but not | | | | point flung his club down in disgust after missing yet |
| before Elin made her own set of demands. | | | | another shot, missed the halfway cut of a major event |
| She is said to have insisted her mother-in-law's new | | | | for only the second time in his career. |
| home be constructed on land separated by a stretch | | | | It had been his protective mother Tida who had |
| of water from the mansion she will occupy with Tiger | | | | counselled him against marriage. After Tiger found |
| and their children, daughter Sam, two, and | | | | fame and money as a teenager, she would take calls |
| ten-month-old son Charlie. | | | | from the string of hopeful young women phoning their |
| And sources in the U.S. say that Stockholm-born Elin, | | | | California home and hiss 'gold diggers! gold diggers!' |
| who has taken close charge of the building of the new | | | | Later, his parents were accused of demanding her son |
| house - due to be completed early next year - has | | | | write a letter to his first girlfriend, High School |
| refused to have any involvement in the planning of | | | | sweetheart Dina Gravell, to call off their relationship |
| Tida's accommodation. | | | | because Tida thought she was distracting Tiger from |
| 'It's well known in the golf world that Tida and Elin don't | | | | his game. |
| get on,' says one who has travelled on the pro tour for | | | | As if the fractured relationship between his battling |
| many years. | | | | mother and wife is not enough to contend with, the |
| 'Tida is a formidable women and frightens the wits out | | | | golfer's management team were last night reported to |
| of everyone, including her son. Elin is almost equally | | | | have gone into 'panic mode' over the damage to his |
| feisty. Tiger is often piggy-in-the-middle.' | | | | multi-million-dollar 'Mr Clean' brand. |
| Meanwhile, just to add to the animosity between them, | | | | Wood's management company IMG were said to be |
| Elin has accused Tida of turning a blind eye to her | | | | locked in negotiations with a string of corporate |
| son's alleged liasons with Miss Uchitel, who is reported | | | | sponsors, including Nike, Buick, watch firm Tag Heuer |
| to have conducted a clandestine affair with Woods | | | | and phone company AT&T, who last year |
| since June. | | | | accounted for the bulk of his £66million earnings. |
| Crucially, when the golfer and nightclub events | | | | Industry sources say that despite a partial vote of |
| manager Miss Uchitel are said to have met up behind | | | | confidence from Gillette - the razor company which |
| his wife's back in Melbourne last month, while Woods | | | | pays Woods a reported £12million a year - is |
| was playing in the Australian Masters, his mother was | | | | considering dumping him from their campaigns. |
| also part of his entourage. | | | | Jason Maloni, an expert in sports and entertainment |
| Sources say Woods even joked that Tida, who was | | | | marketing based in Washington DC, told me last night: |
| raised in poverty close to Bangkok before marrying | | | | 'Tiger is probably losing money already, and Gillette is |
| Woods' black American father Earl, had been | | | | his biggest problem. No firm that sells razors wants to |
| 'hammering his credit card' in swish Melbourne | | | | be associated with someone who has scratches all |
| restaurants Nobu and Rockpool, while he is said to | | | | over his face. |
| have been entertaining the well-bred Miss Uchitel in his | | | | 'He needs his wife to come out and support him |
| 35th floor suite of the city's exclusive Crown Towers | | | | publicly. Until she does, the speculation and the damage |
| hotel. | | | | to his reputation will continue.' |
| It is, perhaps, an indication of how much Woods is in | | | | No wonder the repentant Tiger is apparently so willing |
| thrall to his mother - who has taken over the mantle of | | | | to cave into the demands of his betrayed wife. It might |
| his mentor since the death of his father three years | | | | just be the only way to save his own skin. |
| ago - that after the tournament it was Tida who was | | | | |