An Irish magazine that linked Tiger Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren, to various porn sites has the world's No. 1 golfer outraged. According to a recent report, Woods’ agent is also studying the merits of a lawsuit.
"My wife, yes, she has been a model prior, and she did do some bikini photos," Woods told SI.com. "But to link her to porn Web sites and such is unacceptable, and I do not accept that at all. Neither does our team."
"Most American golfers are married to women who cannot keep their clothes on in public," The Dubliner magazine wrote in its Sept. issue. "Is it too much to ask that they leave them at home for the Ryder Cup? Consider the evidence. Tiger Woods' wife can be found in a variety of sweaty poses on porn sites."
The Irish Daily Start also gave it front-page treatment Wednesday with the headline, "Tiger's Fury at Naked Pictures."
SI.com reported that inside the tabloid, it reprinted photos of “Nordegren in a bikini, along with a nude photo of a woman purported to be Nordegren.
“Woods vehemently denied it was his wife when it first came out three years ago.”
Mark Steinberg, his agent at IMG, told SI.com that he was debating whether to pursue a lawsuit.
"It's ridiculous," Steinberg said from IMG headquarters in Cleveland. "I can't say much now because of prejudice, because I'm not sure what we'll do in the future. Everyone knew it (the nude photo) wasn't her. It's plain as day. You can see it's not factual. It's kind of ironic they bring it up this week."
According to the website, the alleged nude photos were the first topic Woods brought up at his news conference leading to the Ryder Cup, which starts Friday at The K Club. “He was not scheduled to speak to reporters until Thursday, but asked to move the session to Wednesday.”
"I thought Tiger handled that extremely well," U.S. captain Tom Lehman told SI.com. "He dealt with it first thing today. He got it out of the way so that we all move on. I think the whole team understands his frustration. Nobody likes that. But it was kind of like, 'I want to say something ... and let's get back to the business of the Ryder Cup."'
"It's hard to be very diplomatic about this when you have so much emotion involved, when my wife is involved in this," Woods continued for the report. "As I said, I don't want that to deter from the beauty of this event."
Woods said making public his feelings was a matter of sticking up for his wife.
"You do things for the people you love and you care about," Woods said. "My father got ridiculed for years, and I always felt for my father and my mother the same way. My wife, we're in it together. We're a team, and we do things as a team. And I care about her with all my heart."
