The reported mistress tally for Tiger Woods is at nine (and counting), after allegations Monday from a waitress at a pancake house minutes from Woods’ $2.6 million home in the Isleworth neighborhood in the suburbs of Orlando.
Perkins Restaurant was a favorite breakfast destination of Woods and his wife of five years, Elin. According to waitress Mindy Lawton in the London Daily Mail, she had a 14-month relationship with Woods, visiting his home when his wife was out of town.
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Unconfirmed reports also surfaced Monday night on RadarOnline.com that the wife of the world’s greatest golfer has moved out of the couples’ home in Windermere, Fla.
Lawton alleges that one 2007 tryst — occurring in a church parking lot, in Woods’ Cadillac Escalade — was filmed by a news team from a gossip tabloid. When the National Enquirer threatened to report the affair, Woods agreed to a rare interview and cover shoot in an associated publication, Men’s Fitness magazine.
Many salacious details are included in the Lawton account, heaping further embarrassment on the image-conscious golfer.
It’s a stunning contrast to the squeaky-clean image Woods cultivated at the insistence of his father, Earl Woods Jr. Before he passed away in 2006, Earl Woods compared his son to Ghandi.
Before his curious auto accident on Thanksgiving night, Woods’ most serious “transgressions” were his tempestuous, on-course outbursts and revelations of an off-color lesbian joke he told in 1997.
But now Lawton has joined a growing list of women who have come forward, including New York club promoter Rachel Uchitel, Las Vegas nightclub executive Kalika Moquin, Las Vegas cocktail waitress Jamie Jungers, New York catalog model Cori Rist, Los Angeles porn star Holly Sampson Emanuelle, and cocktail waitress and reality show performer Jamiee Grubbs, who last week released a provocative voicemail, allegedly from Woods.
It all adds up to more shame for Woods and speculation that his rich endorsement well will dry up. Three days ago, Woods was lampooned on “Saturday Night Live.” And if you haven’t seen a Tiger Woods-themed e-mail joke thread, you haven’t signed on in the last week.
So what now for the world’s greatest golfer, who at age 33 has 14 major championships, four shy of all-time leader Jack Nicklaus? Will Woods have to undergo a public cleansing, a la President Clinton in the wake of the Monica Lewinsky scandal?
The television queen of tearful confessions, Oprah Winfrey, has offered Woods an opportunity to spill his guts. ESPN, HBO and the Golf Channel have come forward as well.
And what will happen to Woods’ marriage and two children, daughter Sam, 2, and son Charlie, 10 months? Last week, after the first wave of affair allegations, the Daily Beast reported that Elin Woods was renegotiating her pre-nuptual agreement to receive an immediate $5 million payout and as much as $55 million to stay with him for two more years, a significant upgrade from the original pre-nup — a $20 million payout after 10 years.
Tiger Woods has had little to say on the subject, no surprise for a man who named his yacht “Privacy.” But image consultants say he needs to be more forthcoming and honest, using the example of TV talk show host David Letterman.
“It’s [Woods’] privilege not to address the other innuendoes and reports that have surfaced,” New York image consultant Steve Rosner told the Associated Press. “But by not addressing them, I believe he has set up a situation where the story will continue to be the story.”
