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Elin Nordegren Profile |
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Birth Date: January 1, 1980
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Birth Place: Stockholm, Sweden
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Birth Name: Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren
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Biography |
Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren was born on January 1, 1980,
in Stockholm, Sweden. Her mother, Barbro Holmberg, is a
politician who served as migration and asylum policy
minister of Sweden, while her father, Thomas, is a radio
journalist who has served as bureau chief in Washington D.C.
for the Swedish Broadcasting media. Elin has an identical
twin sister named Josefin, and the family resided in the
coastal town of Waxholm, near Stockholm, while the girls
were growing up.
An avid physical fitness enthusiast with classic
Scandinavian good looks, Nordegren began modeling during her
teens, often working as a swimsuit or sports model. Her
career was moderately successful, though she opted to
continue her post-secondary studies in order to have
something to fall back on.
She enrolled in university in Berlin, where she studied
psychology for a time. In addition to modeling, she and her
sister also worked as "au pairs," or nannies. They were
employed by Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik to mind his four
children, and often accompanied his family to international
tournaments.
While accompanying Parnevik during the 2001 British Open at
Royal Lytham in England, Nordegren was introduced to Tiger
Woods by her employer, and the pair soon began dating on a
regular basis.
While they tried to keep the prying eyes of the press and
paparazzi out of their affair, the cat was let out of the
bag when, a couple of days before the 2002 Players
Championship in March of that year, the Swedish media
announced to the world at large that she and the champion
golfer were indeed an item.
In November 2003, as they attended the President's Cup
tournament near the South African coastal city of Port
Elizabeth, the two became officially engaged after Woods
popped the question at the luxury Shamwari game reserve.
Now the subject of tabloid and gossip fodder, Woods
dispelled rumors that their relationship was over before
they made it to the altar. The speculation arose from the
noticeable absence of Nordegren during a 2004 tournament at
the Players Club in Boston. It was reported in a Boston
Herald column that the two "may have called it quits,"
stemming from remarks made by an anonymous source who was
reputed to be close to the golfer.
Woods went on the record in September of 2004, denying the
alleged "huge resolved blowup" between he and his fiance,
stating the rumors were "100% false, actually." Nordegren
was seen by his side at the Ryder Cup shortly after the
report was published.
In early October, the couple headed to the Sandy Lane Resort
on the west coast of Barbados. Amid speculation from reports
in Barbadian and Irish newspapers that they were there for
more than a vacation, Woods declined to comment on the rumor
of an impending wedding.
There had been prior speculation that Nordegren and Woods
would tie the knot in her native Sweden, but on October 5,
2004, they exchanged vows at the 19th hole of the Sandy Lane
Golf Resort.
The ceremony was reputed to have a price tag of between $1.5
to $2 million U.S. A $57 million yacht named Privacy
accommodated the 150 guests, including Michael Jordan,
Charles Barkley, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill Gates, while rock
group Hootie & the Blowfish provided the music. Armed
security guards kept the paparazzi and curious onlookers
from penetrating the private party.
The couple honeymooned aboard the luxury 155-foot yacht,
including full crew, which they hired for two weeks at a
cost of $140,000 U.S.
About a week into the honeymoon, on October 14, the
newlyweds were detained in San Juan, Puerto Rico after
Privacy entered the port without having secured a required
four-day notice. The high profile couple was allowed to
continue honeymooning after the matter was quickly sorted
out.
Elin and her husband currently divide their time between
residences in Florida and California, and plan to start a
family in the near future. |
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