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Tiger's tale of anguish takes a dark new twist

Elin's mum falls ill while golf star now in drugs row

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By Anita Singh in London
Wednesday Dec 9 2009

The drama in Tiger Woods's personal life showed no signs of abating yesterday as his mother-in-law collapsed at his home and reports alleged that he was treated for a suspected drug overdose in the aftermath of his car crash.

Barbro Holmberg, the mother of Woods's wife, Elin Nordegren, was rushed to hospital in the early hours. An emergency call was made from the golfer's Florida home at 2.36am local time.

A spokesman for the Health Central Hospital in Ocoee said Ms Holmberg (57) was admitted with stomach pains. Initial reports said she was being treated as an "advanced life support patient" but by midday the spokesman said she was in a stable condition and under evaluation.

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Ms Holmberg, a Swedish politician and former minister for migration and asylum policy, had been in the US for less than 48 hours to support her daughter after lurid allegations about Woods's private life.

Private security guards were stationed outside her hospital room, such is the intense media interest in the Woods saga.

Ms Holmberg's only public pronouncement since the crash had been to say: "This is a private family matter. I'm praying for everyone and everything to be OK. Please let's just leave it at that."

Ms Nordegren followed the ambulance to hospital in her car but there was no sign of Woods, who has been in hiding since the bizarre crash two weeks ago that led to a string of women coming forward with claims of affairs. The tally of alleged mistresses has reached at least seven, including a cocktail waitress and a porn actress.

Cori Rist was a recent addition to the list, courtesy of the 'New York Daily News'. The paper claimed that Ms Rist, a 31-year-old fixture on the city's nightclub scene, first met Woods last year.

Since then, the paper alleged, Woods has flown her out to meet him on his golfing tours, booking her into rooms next to his so they would not be seen together. Ms Rist has not commented on the allegations.

The latest development came as fresh allegations were made about the mysterious accident on November 27 in which the world number one crashed into a fire hydrant and a tree outside his mansion in Windermere.

It had been suggested that Woods was fleeing from his wife, who had confronted him over newspaper reports of his alleged friendship with Rachel Uchitel, a nightclub hostess. Ms Uchitel has denied an affair.

He was taken to hospital and his medical records listed the reason for admission as suspected 'OD', shorthand for 'overdose', according to the website TMZ.com. The records also stated that Woods was having trouble breathing.

The golfer was reportedly admitted under the alias of William Smith.

TMZ claimed that Ms Nordegren supplied paramedics at the crash scene with bottles for the prescription drugs Ambien, a muscle relaxant, and Vicodin, a painkiller.

Woods was said to be falling in and out of consciousness, while one witness described him "snoring".

Transgressions

Woods issued a statement apologising to his family for his "transgressions", saying: "I am not without fault and I am far short of perfect."

But many believe the billionaire sportsman's clean-cut image has been irreparably tarnished. His predicament continues to be the source of jokes, with David Letterman, the talk show host, the latest to poke fun at the golfer.

"President Obama is sending troops to Afghanistan," he told his audience on Monday night.

- Anita Singh in London

Irish Independent