The Big Flop - Tiger Woods Drives His Marriage Into the Rough with Even the Rich | 53

Episode Date: September 16, 2024

At 2:30AM on Thanksgiving night 2009, Tiger Woods, one of the most famous athletes in the world, drove his car into a tree outside his neighbor’s house. This bizarre accident set off a chain of events that exposed Tiger’s secret affairs to the world and wound up wrecking more than his Escalade: It wrecked his marriage, and almost totaled his career.Brooke Siffrinn and Aricia Skidmore-Williams from Even the Rich join Misha to tee off on the salacious scandals of Tiger Woods.Follow The Big Flop on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to The Big Flop early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to The Big Flop early and ad-free. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. It's 2 a.m. on Thanksgiving night 2009. You're comfortably in bed, deep in a food coma, sleeping off all that stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pie. It's another quiet evening in your gated neighborhood on the water. The light from a pair of headlights briefly shines through your bedroom window, and you hear an engine revving.

Then you hear a crash. You jump out of bed and though it's tough to run when you're this full, you go racing out of your house into the night. In front of your driveway, you find a black escalade smashed into a tree. The car's not just a little dinged up. The hood is crumpled and the bumper is wrecked.

You start to move closer to see if you can help. But now things are getting even weirder. A blonde woman comes running out of the darkness up to the car and in her hand is a golf club? The woman takes the club and starts smashing the car's back windshield. The driver of the car is laying on the concrete next to the vehicle. He's unconscious. There's blood on his face.

Oh, and he's also not wearing any shoes. It's your neighbor. And your neighbor isn't just anyone. It's legendary golfer Tiger Woods. Huh. That may partially explain the golf club. You run back inside to call 911, yelling, Tiger is down! Tiger is down! The sounds of ambulance sirens get louder and louder, and the flashing lights from the top of a police cruiser get closer and closer.

Hmm, maybe now is a good time to see if Tiger wants to help out with the neighborhood block party? Tiger Woods shattering record after record after record. The most famous athlete in the world, Tiger Woods, has been released from a Florida hospital after crashing his own car in the wee hours of the morning. Woods' car crash turbocharged his personal life into a national sensation, pushed along at every turn by a tabloid press that knows a hot story when it sees one. What I did is not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame.

We are on a sinking ship. From Wondery and Atwill Media, this is The Big Flop, where we chronicle the greatest flubs, fails, and blunders of all time. I'm your host, Misha Brown, social media superstar, and always praying for a hole in one at Don't Cross a Gay Man. And today we're talking about someone who is not just one of the most famous,

most dominant athletes of all time, but also one of the most famous cheating husbands of all time, Tiger Woods. MUSIC On our show today, we have besties and hosts of the award-winning podcasts, Even the Rich, Even the Royals, and Rich and Daily. It's Arisha Skidmore Williams and Brooke Siffrin. Welcome to the show. Thanks for having us.

Yeah. Rapturous applause from everybody in their cars. Please, please. Yeah. Thank you though. Appreciate it. So I guess before we jump into Tiger, like what's your relationship like with golf? Have you ever golfed? I actually used to work at a country club.

So I've been close to it against my will. I was like a banquet server, but then a bartender, and then one of the Bev Cart girls, which you can make a lot of money, especially when people are performing well on the field. They don't call it fields. What do they call it? Of course. I actually have a very close relationship with golf.

My parents are both very big golf fans. We used to go to professional golf tournaments all the time. They still go, so I've seen Tiger Woods play live. Wow. Yeah. Well, today we are teeing off on Tiger Woods, the first athlete to earn over a billion dollars, but whose personal life shot a double bogey through his legacy. You've got a lot of those in your pocket, don't you? Yeah, too many, yeah. So, Tiger is born Eldrick Taunt Woods in 1975, and he's given the nickname Tiger by his dad, Earl Woods. And I think it's fair to say that Tiger is a step up from Eldrick. No offense to all the Eldricks who are listening, I'm sure.

Yeah. But Tiger's father, Earl Woods, is black, and his mother, Kaltida, is Thai. And this is important to note because Tiger is going to be breaking all kinds of barriers as a biracial person in golf. And for those of you who immediately fall asleep at the mention of golf, don't worry.

We're going to get to the juicy stuff real quick. Yeah, that's me. Yeah, same. Now, Tiger starts learning about golf before he's even potty trained. At a time when kids have to be told not to put their fingers in light sockets, Earl Woods is teaching Tiger to become a future champion. And the training wasn't just physical, it was also mental. In an interview, Earl Woods once said, quote, I tried to break him down mentally, try to intimidate him verbally. He would look at me with the most evil look, but he wasn't permitted to say anything. That's the frustration. He

couldn't say a word. Wow. This is like what they do to horses. Yeah. And Tiger was like 11 years old at this point. Oh, okay. But it's definitely not giving me the kind of coach who takes you out for ice cream, even if you lose. No, no. Did you ever have a really intense coach or teacher? So I was a competitive cheerleader and I had one that I like got into it with a lot actually. And I'm like, who did I think I was? You know, like just in high school,

arguing with an adult about nonsense, but she was tough, you know? I had really supportive coaches. Like all the sports that I played, the coaches were super supportive. I think because, not to brag, but I was pretty good at sports. So they had nothing to complain about to me.

Are you sure they weren't just telling you that? They were like, oh, you're just so good at sports. No, we kept winning the championship. So the results spoke for themselves. Yeah, she's like, my ribbons and trophies back to the folks. Yeah, they do. Yeah. Well, by the age of five, Tiger is a good enough golfer

that he even makes appearances on TV to show off his skills. And in fact, we have a clip of one of those appearances. So, let's take a look. Fun. On the tee, we have the youngest contestant ever. He's five years old, Eldrick Tiger Woods. On a golf course, Tiger has the kind of poise and confidence that would be the envy of most golfers, 10 times his age. He's so cute.

Isn't he so cute at that age? He is so cute. Yeah. I feel bad seeing kids do, like, it's just, you just want to protect kids. It's like whenever I see kids on social media, it's like they don't, they have so little agency. It's like, I want him to be doing this because he wants to, not because his dad's behind him with that scowl. And a gun.

And a gun. Yeah. Let's go back to like the kids say the darnedest things when they were cute just, like, naturally, you know? Rather than kind of forced and professional. Yeah. Seriously. Well, Tiger goes pro in 1996 when he's only 20 years old and he explodes onto the scene.

Right out of the gate, he gets endorsement deals with Nike and Titleist worth $60 million. Man. At 20? At 20. What I would do with $60 million, even now. But at 20? But at 20 would have been a nightmare.

He's so reckless. I know. I would be poor so quickly. Yeah. Yeah. Well, those aren't the only deals he got. And to learn more about Tiger's insane sponsorships, Well, those aren't the only deals he got. And to learn more about Tiger's insane sponsorships, let's play a game.

I'm going to ask you some questions about Tiger's big sponsorship deals and let's see if you can tell me the answers. All right. So here's the first question. Let's see if you can tell me the answers. All right, so here's the first question. Tiger had a deal with General Motors that didn't involve any money. What did Tiger get instead? I mean, I would assume. I mean, did he get a car?

Either a car or like a golf cart. Did he make golf carts? A GM golf cart, that'd be cute. So close. He didn't get a car. Tiger was able to drive any GM car he wanted to for free. Like just, he'd go to the lot? He could just go to the lot, pick one up and drive it around. No, he goes up to people.

He's like, a GM says I can drive your car. Yeah, give me the keys. This is like the police taking it over. But he gets special privileges. He just has a GM badge. I guess it's yours. Second question. In one of his early ads for Nike, Tiger does what unusual activity with a golf ball? Oh, no, my mind immediately goes to a terrible place. Of course it does. I feel like maybe he treats it like a basketball.

Okay. What year was this? Maybe he like draws a face on it and it's like his version of Wilson from Castaway. That would have been nice. He juggles. Oh, that makes sense. He juggles it using a golf club before hitting the ball while it's still midair and driving it down the fairway. As somebody who's an aspiring juggler, I'm dying to know the logistics of this. One more.

Gatorade made a Tiger Woods themed drink called Tiger Focus. I would have to guess that they spend about five minutes coming up with that name, but can you tell me what the different flavors of Gatorade Tiger Focus were? Can you tell us how many there were? Three. Oh, maybe they're like golf names, like eagle, bogey. I feel like they're gonna be like, drive, passion, and fire. You are actually strangely so close.

So the first one was red drive. Oh my God. Okay. The second one was cool fusion. Sounds like passion. Sounds like passion. And the third one was quiet storm. Fires come out in storms sometimes.

Right? I basically got it 100% right. Ding, ding, ding. -♪ DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! D and he backs up those sponsorships with huge wins. At age 21, Tiger fully establishes his golf dominance when he wins the Masters Tournament. He is the youngest person to ever win the tournament. He is also the first player of African-American or Asian descent to win the Masters. See, that's the beauty about being biracial,

as a biracial person, you get to kill two birds with one stone. It's great. Also, to put this in context of how big of a deal this was, I have a multiple choice question for you. OK. The Masters is held at Augusta National Golf Club. What year did Augusta National Golf Club admit its first black member?

1960, 1980, or 1990? 90. 1980. We're talking about Georgia here. Arisha, ding, ding, ding. It was 1990. I know how these Southern states are. That's seven years before Tiger won the Masters.

Psychotic. I mean, this just shows that before Tiger, golf was very, very, very white for a very long time. When this kind of thing happens, you're like, okay, you just wonder what kind of talent could have existed and been honed, turned away, had been the opportunity to do it. Absolutely. So, Woods's youth and the fact that he's not an old white guy,

not only make him stand out, it also gives golf a new appeal, kind of what you were just talking about. Because of Woods, TV ratings for golf double in 1996, and not just from one grandpa to two grandpas. We're talking about a lot of new people. In the 10 years after Tiger's debut, the overall number of golfers goes up by 22%. Wow. Young people who were never interested in golf are tuning in and are also showing up at tournaments just to watch Tiger.

It's like if all of a sudden college students started showing up in huge numbers to play bingo in a church basement. Can you imagine? Bingo's fun though. In 2001, Tiger meets Elin Nordegren, his future wife and his even further in the future ex-wife. Yeah. Elin is a former swimsuit model from Sweden and by many accounts, she's a very grounded, normal person. Tiger and Elin meet at the British Open. She's the nanny for another golfer,

and Tiger asks Elin out, but she initially turns him down, which, T... Playing hard to get. Why do you think she turned him down? It's possible that because she was a nanny for another pro golfer, she was like, do I really want to get involved with a golfer? Those playboys? Everyonefer? Those playboys.

Everyone knows. Those playboys. The playboys of the athletic world. Golfers. Yeah. Maybe her boss was like, don't you dare. Yeah. He's my rival.

He's the enemy. Oh, could be. Well, there were two main reasons she didn't want to date Tiger. The first, Elin was apparently not interested in fame or having any kind of life in the spotlight, which is unfortunate because in just a few years, she's basically going to be living directly under a spotlight. Front page People magazine. But Brooke, you were onto something because she also just wasn't that into golfers. According to a friend, she quote, made fun of golfers and their funny clothes.

Okay. Wow. I mean, who doesn't? I mean, it's not hot to wear only khaki. So this has nothing to do with golf, but I was almost a professional bowler. Oh my God. Oh my God. But it also has something to do with golf.

Scout it in every, yeah, because it's a lame sport. Sure. Yeah, exactly. Exactly, you get it. But I always think about, like, what if I had chosen to train for the PBA rather than go to college and I was this, like, super gay twinkle toes, like, sequin bowling shoes?

I could have fashioned up bowling. I could have been an icon. You really could have. And it needs it. It does, especially the shoes. Starting with the shoes. Yes. Yes. And it needs it. It does, especially the shoes. Starting with the shoes. Yes.

Yes. Well, eventually they start dating and in 2004, Tiger and Elin get married and the ceremony takes place in Barbados at a five-star golf resort, which seemed kind of like having your wedding at your office, but you do you, Tiger. Yeah. Can you imagine getting married at your office? Our bedrooms? Yeah, we're all in a bedroom.

So I mean, it is a lavish affair. Tiger rents out the entire resort for a whole week. The guest list is said to include Serena Williams, Michael Jordan, and Bill Gates. I like to think at some point during the wedding week, there was like a pickup basketball game in which Bill Gates got dumped on repeatedly by Michael Jordan.

Oh, 100%. Also, I feel like every time we talk about a celebrity wedding on Even the Rich, Serena Williams is there. She is, she's one of those like sleeper agents when it comes to knowing people. She's friends with everybody. Yeah. Yeah.

Good for her. I think it's everyone wants to know her. They're like, you're just an icon and you didn't cheat on your spouse. So we love having you around. Those are the two boxes to check. There we go. In order to keep the press and paparazzi away, he reportedly books every helicopter available

to rent on the island so no one can take aerial photos. This guy has too much money. It's too much, right? I get that though, I guess. But it's like to have that kind of money. Mm. Well, even though he's the focus of so much media attention, Tiger's image is consistently golden and scandal-free. By 2009, he and Elin have two kids and he's seen as a real role model. He is also extremely private when it comes to his personal life. He's so private, he even names his yacht privacy. What would you name your

yacht? Finally. Finally. I did it. So he's also got a very good reason for wanting to keep his personal life private. He's doing all kinds of stuff in private that would take his image from squeaky clean to down and dirty. Tiger reportedly likes to party. He's been using sleeping pills and painkillers, and he likes to hang out with women and not in a platonic, we sometimes meet for coffee and talk about what's happening on Lost kind

of way. Yeah. Tiger's had affairs with multiple women, including porn stars. Of course. Familiar? Yeah. Tigers had affairs with multiple women, including porn stars. Of course. Familiar? Yeah. Yeah. That's never happened before.

Never? One of those women is Rachel Yucatel. Now, Tiger meets Rachel at a nightclub in New York City where she works as the director of VIP services. They begin having an affair, which I guess is a meaning of VIP services I wasn't aware of. She was directing those services for sure. As of 2008, none of these secrets about Tiger have been made public. And as far as the public knows, Woods is too busy winning at golf to even think about other women.

Yeah, of course. Now, Woods has won $66 million in tournament money. And between appearances and sponsorships, he's made another almost $482 million, which will buy you a lot of Ambien. That's true. And helicopters. And helicopters, probably. And he's second only to Oprah on Forbes Celebrity 100 list. Wow.

Interesting. So far, Tiger has been able to keep both the public and, more importantly, his wife from finding out about his secret life. And keeping the secret is super important. His golden image is a key part of his appeal both to the public and to the sponsors who are backing him with millions of dollars. In fact, in 2007, Tiger reportedly uses his celebrity appeal to stop the National Enquirer

from publishing a story about one of his affairs. That's hard to do. It's hard to stop the National Enquirer. I was gonna say, that feels impossible. I'm impressed he was able to do it. Well, he was able to finagle this by giving an exclusive interview to Men's Fitness, which is a sister publication of the National Enquirer. Wow, I didn't know that.

So it's like, do an interview that's all about how great you are instead of an expose on your secret life? Easy choice. Yeah. See, I'm always like, if they already know the bad stuff, I'm going to spend my whole life being like, when is it going to come out? So I'd be like, just tell them, let it out.

I know. I just can't, I'm too anxious. I'd be like, is this the day I wake up to a bunch of pings? Or just come clean, like come clean on your own, you know? But in November of 2009, Tiger learns that the National Enquirer is going to publish an article about his affair with Rachel Yucatel. I'm shocked. Tiger's probably hoping that he'll be able to do the same thing he did last time to stop

the article from being published, even if it means he has to do the same thing he did last time to stop the article from being published, even if it means he has to do an interview with Teen Boss magazine, another sister publication. Yeah. Teen Boss? What? God, who is at the helm of all of these ridiculous publications? But no amount of interviews are going to stop the Inquirer from publishing this scoop. Some truly salacious details of the upcoming article, which we will absolutely get into later, are starting to come out. Knowing that he's not going to be able to stop the story, Tiger starts to focus on convincing

Elin that there's nothing between him and Rachel. He even sets up a call with her and Rachel, which is very high risk strategy. During the call, Rachel tells Elan that there has not been any affair. Who doesn't love a conference call with your husband and his lover? So much fun. It's like, if we're going to do this, we're going to do it in person. I want to read everyone's body language. I want to see your eyes. Okay. Like you're not going to pull one over on me here. Rachel's probably reading from a script Tiger gave her. I did not have sexual relations with that golfer. So that phone call does not in fact set Elan's mind at ease. Shocking. I can't believe that. Why not? What she really wants is to take a look at Tiger's phone herself.

And that would be a disaster for him. His phone is an infidelity diary. It's filled with text messages from women who are definitely not his wife. I mean, can we imagine what other kinds of things she would find on there? I'm sure it's just golf tips. Golf tips. It's tips, that's for sure. You. Got em.

Got em. Worried that he won't be able to keep Elan away from his phone forever, Tiger goes into damage control mode. On November 24th, 2009, just days before Thanksgiving, he leaves a voicemail for Jamie Grubbs. Grubbs is a cocktail waitress from Los Angeles. And no, she's not just a pal from Tiger's book club. She is another woman that Tiger has been seeing on the DL. Woods is worried his wife is going to call Grubbs. And if she calls that number and hears Grubbs' name on the voicemail recording, he's going to be totally busted.

We actually have audio of that voicemail. So, let's listen. Hey, it's Tiger. I need you to make sure you're on. Can you please take your name off your phone? My wife went through my phone and may be calling you. Can you please take your name off your phone? I'll write it to my phone and maybe call you. What an idiot.

Truly an idiot. First of all, why wouldn't you just get rid of your phone and get a new phone? Like this guy, it's like you're not even using your brain. Or delete the contact. Like at the bare minimum. Bare minimum. Could we not do that back then? Did phones not do that?

Like, could we not delete text messages? Tiger's fighting a losing battle. On November 25th, the National Enquirer publishes the Yucatel story. The article says that Tiger and Rachel have been hot and heavy for months. They've been sexting each other, and Rachel even traveled to Australia, where Tiger was playing golf, to see him and check out his land down under. Ooh.

The article includes the quote, I don't care about his wife, we're in love. Mm-hmm. It also says that Rachel's nickname for Tiger is Bear. Couldn't you come up with a more creative nickname? It's a little bit of like a hat on a hat situation. Yeah, that doesn't make any sense. I mean, just do Tiger.

If you're going to do an animal, he already has an animal name. Well, the next day is Thanksgiving. And as you might imagine, things are tense in the Woods household. And you'd think Tiger would lay low, but no, he can't help himself. No, he's got an ego. Throughout the day, he's sending messages to different women on Thanksgiving. So go make some cranberry sauce, Tiger.

Maybe he's just sending those Thanksgiving texts everyone sends. Yeah. Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving. Thankful for you. Yeah. Yeah. Just plain and simple. It's like a mass text of all his lovers. Yeah, they're all Thankful for you. Yeah. Yeah. Just plain and simple. It's like a mass text of all his lovers.

Yeah, they're all in one group text. Well it is all about to come crashing down on Tiger slash Bear. Texting other women is exhausting. So he takes an Ambien and goes to sleep, which gives Elin an opening to finally get her hands on his phone. Now, looking through his texts, she finds a message that Tiger sent to someone other than her, and that message to this other person says, quote, you are the only one I've ever loved.

Yeah. So, the only way that could have been worse is if the message straight up said, I don't love my wife, but I do love you and cheating on my wife with you. Yeah, exactly. And also I hate people from Sweden. So, Elin dials the number and when the owner picks up, Elin knows the voice on the other end because she had just had a call with her a few days earlier. It's Rachel. It's Rachel, you could tell. Yeah. So, Elin's shouting, I knew it! And this wakes Tiger up, so the ambient is no match for how loud she's yelling.

Wow, that's a weak ambient. Yeah. Yeah. So, somehow, even though he's just woken up from one of those ambient sleeps, Tiger manages to get his phone back. Well, he's an athlete. He's got agility. He's like, I'll get that phone. Well, Tiger, awake, but probably still very groggy, holds up in a bathroom and sends a two word message to Rachel. She knows. Rachel's like, you think?

Probably already figured it out. Yeah. Can't believe we wasted his non-free texting because I'm sure it's not after nine yet. Oh my gosh., you think? I probably already figured it out. Yeah, can't believe it was a confirmation. We sent his non-free texting, because I'm sure it's not after nine yet. Oh my gosh, do you remember? Just to say she knows. The amount of times I got grounded. No! So, after sending that text message to Rachel, Tiger runs outside. He doesn't even stop to put shoes on. I mean, it could be the Ambien, or it could be that he just really wants to

get away from Elin. But he gets in his Escalade. And now remember, with the Ambien, he's not going to have the reflexes of a tiger, more like the reflexes of a sleepy turtle, whose wife just found out he's been having an affair. But tiger races into the street, starts to swerve, hits a fire hydrant, and crashes into a tree in front of his neighbor's house. That poor tree, another casualty of this scandal.

I know. I'm like, where is he going? Where are you going? I mean, I guess we're on Ambien, so you're not thinking. You're going to drive all the way up to New York? Good luck. Yeah. So to give you an idea of the scene, let's take a look at a photo of the accident. Oh, I remember this. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It looks like a car where like an 11 year old drives because they want to like meet their friends and they think they can just drive a car and then they kind of like roll into a tree. But like downhill. So there's a little bit of speed, but it's not like terrible.

Not terrible. Yeah. Yeah. That photo was everywhere. Yeah. I remember GM was using it in their ads. Yeah. He's like, but he lived. So our cars are sturdy. And that's their ads. Yeah. But he's like, but he lived.

So our cars are sturdy. And that's the takeaway. Yeah. I mean, he wasn't going that fast, right? This was a residential. He couldn't have been. Yeah. And thank God it was a tree and not like a house or a person.

My God, this could have been so much worse. However fast he was going, Tiger does get injured in the crash. He got cuts on his lips, a mouth full of blood, and is lying unconscious next to the car. And Elin runs out after him and smashes the rear windshield of the car with a golf club. And you can tell she's not a golfer because a pro would have asked the caddy about which was the best windshield smashing club to use. Exactly. Yeah. Do you think I should use a nine iron on this one or what? The pro would have asked the caddy about which was the best windshield smashing club to use. Exactly.

Yeah. Do you think I should use a nine iron on this one or wedge? Wow. Terms. Wow. This girl knows golf. She knows golf. So their neighbor who has come out of her house because of all the insanity out on her front

lawn calls 911 and Tiger is taken to the hospital. Now, if the Enquirer story already got the media's attention, the story of Tiger's car crash is going to take things to the next level, prompting even more tabloid revelations about Tiger's personal life. Instead of not drawing attention to himself, he's basically lit a bunch of sparklers, put on a silly hat and started blasting loud music and shouting, please press look at me on my yacht, name privacy.

Exactly. Yeah. He's going to change the name of that yacht. Seriously. Do you have like a comparable Thanksgiving story? I wish. How come I never get invited to these Thanksgivings? Like, come on.

I know, that's my thing. Like, I'm not asking for much, just normal drama. Yeah. Everyone gets along in my family at Thanksgiving. It's bullshit. So if you were Tiger's scandal caddy, what would you suggest he do? Maybe threaten the cops, show up at the station, kick the tires, be like, so is this a GM? Because I don't know if you heard, this car's mine now, if so. Here's my badge. Here it is. Or challenge the cops to a golf off.

I think from a PR standpoint, you gotta just own it and make a statement. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think, I feel like this is, I don't know, this might be what he ended up doing, but you cop to being, whether or not we're gonna go with the truth, you're like, oh, I have an addiction.

Sex addicts, yeah. They love to say addiction. They love it. So like problem with prescription pills, problem with sex. I'm going to go into rehab and my family would like privacy during this time. Sure. Sure. Well, what he does is pull a classic big flop move that we should really have some special

theme music for. So producer, cue the music. He goes on a publicity tour that makes things even worse. So on November 29th, Woods finally releases a statement and it is tantalizingly exquisitely vague. Brooke, could you read the statement for us? Oh my god, I would love to. Okay, oh wow, this is short.

Did he have a PR team create this? Because he should get his money back. Yeah. Okay, so it says, although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded, and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible. Oh, dude, that sucks. Yeah, seriously. Did a PR person write this?

Because I'll take their job. There's no way. Seriously. One of his kids wrote it. So if you didn't already know what these malicious rumors were, the first thing you would do when you heard about them is go look them up. Exactly. Especially the part about his family, because it's like about him, I Exactly. Well, especially the part about his family.

Because it's like about him, I get, but what are they saying about his family? Yeah. Right. I mean, if you went over to someone's house and they said, oh, by the way, there's nothing weird in my basement, you immediately think there's something weird in that basement. What an unhinged thing to say to someone. We've seen this. We've seen this so many times, like the more vague you are, the more curious people are.

So the next day, Tiger announces that he's not going to participate in his own golf tournament that was scheduled for the following week. He claims it's because of his injuries, you know, from trying to drive a car on Ambien. Do you remember, though, when the details of this story came out? Vaguely? This was when I was like in the prime of like inhaling celebrity gossip. So I remember so much. This is like the only parts of his story that I really know. Same. Yeah.

Sad. I just remember that I got really mad at him and it never went away. Never again. So finally, a few days later, there's some good news. On December 1st, the police say they're wrapping up its investigation into the accident and Tiger gets off with no criminal charges and a fine of just $164 for careless driving, which is so low. Tiger could afford to carelessly drive about five and a half million times before it starts to put a dent in his wallet.

That's good math. That's absurd. Who's taking care of that poor tree? I know, right? So that's probably the start of things calming down for Tiger, right? Sure. Yep, that's how it works. Yeah. He's free and clear. Yeah. Well, absolutely not. The next day, Us Weekly publishes a story about Jamie Grubbs,

who you may remember was the cocktail waitress tiger left a voicemail for. Yeah. In the article, she spills all kinds of details about their relationship and even shares text messages between her and Woods. And I'm going to do a dramatic reading of a few of the texts that were published by us. Oh, I love it. Oh, hell yeah. I need you. Oh, God.

Then get your tight ass over here and visit me. I need you. I will wear you out. Soon. How soon? I got a new piercing. Where? Tight ass? That's so weird to say to someone, get your tight ass over here. Can you imagine if AI was around when Tiger was sexting? So you would be in chat, DVD, give me something real sexy to say to this girl.

Us also releases the voicemail that we listened to earlier, making it basically impossible for Tiger to dispute the story. Now, why do we think Jamie Grubbs would release the voicemail? Come on. She's a loyal mistress. She heard that Rachel's the only one he's ever loved and she's like, well, forget it then. Give me some money. Let's like, well, forget it then. Give me some money.

Let's talk. Money, I'm sure. Tabloids. Yeah. Yeah. So after this story breaks, Tiger does not wait this time. Just hours later, he makes yet another vague statement. He says, quote, I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all

of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect." So first he says that the rumors are false, but doesn't say what those rumors are. But now he's saying that he did do something, but he doesn't say if it's related to those rumors he was talking about earlier, and he also doesn't specify what he did to let his family down. So I'd be like, what are you talking about? It's almost like, is he playing into the publicity at this point? Like with his vague nonsense? Like, is he, is this fueling him in some weird way? More than Red Drive ever could. More than Red Drive ever could. Yeah, I don't know. It may be that

Tiger is still hoping to limit how many people know about the affair, but... I really think he's like still kind of in denial. And he's absolutely not taking any accountability. He's still on Ambien. Probably. He's still stoned. Even the golfer who introduced Tiger to Elin takes shots at him.

And the golfer says, quote, when you're the world's best athlete, you should think more before you do stuff and maybe not just do it like Nike says. Did he actually include like Nike says? Yeah. Obsessed with him now. An Us Weekly spokesperson also says that the magazine has knowledge of several other women who Tiger had been involved with. The spokesperson adds that Tiger liked to party

and to be in the company of women. Right. By December 9th, there are a whopping 13 women who have been named by Us Weekly as possible tiger mistresses. One for each colony. She's very patriotic. Yes, if anything. Right?

Now, one of these women is a porn star, and yes, you guessed it, Tiger was texting a whole bunch with her too. One of these texts, published by Deadspin reads, "'Baby, I'm not going anywhere or doing anything. You please me like no other has or ever will.'" He doesn't, like, okay, he doesn't have game. Like, does this guy have game? Is it just that he's a rich, famous golfer?

Like... So, the situation is really spiraling out of control with more and more revelations piling up and on December 11th, Tiger announces he's taking an indefinite break from professional golf to focus on his personal life and family. Now, for those of you keeping track at home, this is the fourth statement he's made. Well, it's crazy because it's like, it's not the golf that's the problem. Take a break from sleeping with all these women.

Right. Why are you taking a break from golf? Golf might keep your mind off of this. Yeah. If you're swinging a club, you're not putting it in other people. You're not swinging your club. So, at this point, sponsors start putting distance between themselves and Tiger. Like a whole golf course worth of distance.

AT&T and Gatorade both end deals with Woods. Most brutal of all, Gatorade announced that they would no longer be offering Gatorade Tiger focus. Oh no. So, he's lost his focus in more ways than one. This is devastating. Gatorade claims the decision had nothing to do with all of the affairs, but... Right, right, right.

They're like, if Tiger's lying, why can't we? Why can't we? You know? Yeah. You have to imagine now when people are thinking about Tiger Woods getting dehydrated, it's not because he's playing too much golf. Right. Like, he needs that stuff more than ever now.

He doesn't have enough fluids for all these women. Tiger holds a press conference at the headquarters of the PGA Tour. He apologizes to his wife, family, and fans, and finally comes out and admits what everybody has already figured out a long time ago, that he cheated. It's a huge story that gets national coverage as it closes out this saga of scandal that has now been drawn out for months.

Let's take a look at a clip from the conference. Achievements on the golf course are only part of setting an example. Character and decency are what really count. Parents used to point to me as a role model for their kids. I owe all those families a special apology. I want to say to them that I am truly sorry. This guy looks like a robot. I want to apologize to those families.

I want to give you a truly special apology. I'm sorry. Dare I say, so sorry. The sorryest. Now, during the press conference, Tiger also makes a point of mentioning that he has spent 45 days in therapy. Oh.

And hey... Straight? That's a lot. Yeah, he just never left. You know, I mean, it is great that he was going to therapy, but not so great that he's talking about it like one of his golf records. You know? Right, yeah. But the therapy seems to be too little too late.

In August of 2010, Tiger and Elan divorce. Now, the exact specifics of the settlement aren't made public, but Elan reportedly gets more than $100 million from Tiger. Still not enough. And she uses some of that money to buy herself a very nice $12 million mansion in Florida. Not a bad way to treat yourself after a wealthy boy club. A different state. Well after all of this, Tiger keeps playing golf, but he isn't quite able to reach his old heights again. He wins the Masters again in 2019, but it doesn't wind up sparking

the comeback that some were hoping for, mostly him. And the past keeps coming back to haunt him, usually in car form. In 2017, he's arrested for a DUI. And then in 2021, he gets in another car crash in California. So if I were Tiger at this point, I would stick to Uber or just renting Bahamian helicopters or something. I don't know. Everyone at GM was like, yes, we made the right choice. They were like high-fiving.

It's absolutely, it's infuriating when people with a ton of money ever get charged with the US. Like you should not, you have the resources even before Uber, like you could book a taxi. It's like there's no excuse for it. Well after the 2021 accident, he announces that he will no longer be playing golf full-time and will instead, quote, pick and choose a few events a year to participate in. And hopefully whatever he does with his new free time, it will not involve Ambien. So let's do a little, where are they now? After the divorce, Elin went on to get a psychology degree.

I guess being married to Tiger would definitely make you want to understand what the heck is going on in people's heads. She's married again and has three kids with her husband, Jordan Cameron, who is a former NFL player. Like, okay, Elin, we get it, athletic types. Unfortunately, she also had to demolish that mansion she bought because of ants, termites, and the fact that it wouldn't have been able to withstand a hurricane, which is pretty important if you live on the ocean in Florida.

It's $12 million and they couldn't figure out how to make it so it couldn't withstand a hurricane. $12 million and she's like, I have bed bugs. I got to, I got to. I know. Tear it down. Like I saw an ant. Get it out.

Get this whole house out of here. We presume she was able to find another mansion. I hope so. I shudder to think that she's in a regular sized house. Yeah. Could you imagine? How awful. Now, Rachel Yucatel is now the host of a podcast called Misunderstood, which is all about the stories of people who have been reduced to a single headline. Yeah, so many people can relate to that. So Tiger, he's still playing golf but no longer full time like he promised.

But his son Charlie has also started playing golf and in addition to playing together, Tiger has even acted as a caddy for his son. Wow, that's kind of cute. Yeah, golf tips, solid relationship advice, not so much. Yeah. Now here on The Big Flop, we like to be positive people and kind of end on an upswing. So are there any silver linings you can think of that came about from Tiger Woods and his ambient induced car crash? Oh my God. Well for the other golfers, they had a fighting chance.

He's out of there now, so good for them. Well, I do know that in 2015, in an interview, he said, having the relationship that I have now with Elin is fantastic. She's one of my best friends. We're able to pick up the phone and we talk to each other all of the time. We both know that the most important things in our lives are our kids. So it does seem like the relationship has improved. I think that is the silver lining. There's a silver lining. Yeah.

Co-parenting is a big deal, you know? It's a huge deal. Yeah. I mean, it's never the kid's fault and shouldn't be their burden to bear. So now to also, to be fair to Tiger, his achievements are still really impressive and there hasn't been another golfer like him since. I mean, we can't forget that he made golf more inclusive and inspired more people to get involved in the sport, including biracial and African-American golfers. So we're gonna golf to that.

Yeah, golf club. So now that you both know about Tiger Woods and the sexting inspired ambient infused car ride that drove both his about Tiger Woods and the sexting-inspired ambient-infused car ride that drove both his marriage and career into a ditch, possibly costing him and the sponsors billions, would you consider this a baby flop, a big flop, or a mega flop? Mega flop? I wouldn't say big. He was on such a trajectory, and it's all thrown away for his own like hubris.

But he didn't lose really anything. He's still got money. He's still fine. But I feel like he has not been, he just never has been able to recover. And that feels like if you can't come back, how is that not a mega flop? Big flop. Well thank you so much to our Hole in One guests, Arisha Skidmore Williams and Brooke Siffrin for joining us here on The Big Flop.

And thanks to all of you for listening. If you're enjoying the show, please leave us a rating and review. We'll be back next week with another flop. Grab some popcorn, turn down the lights and pop in a VHS. We're talking Blockbuster. Bye. Oh my God. Bye talking blockbuster. Bye. Oh my God.

Bye, Amisha. Bye, Amisha. If you like the big flop, you can listen early and ad free on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple podcasts. Prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. The Big Flop is a production of Wondery and At Will Media, hosted by Misha Brown, produced by Sequoia Thomas, Harry Huggins, and Tina Turner, written by Anna Rubinova and Luke Burns, engineered by Zach Rapone, with support from Andrew Holzberger.

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