London Sun : Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren divorce settlement is worth 750 million Forbes magazine disagrees
Tiger Woods has been making headlines for everything but his golf at the AT&T Nationals. Woods was outshot by his practice partner Arjun Atwal. Atwal is tied for first on the leaderboard after the first round, while Woods is seven shots behind and struggling to make the cut.
Woods shot a three over par 73 on Aronimink Golf club’s 7,237 yard layout. Five year practice partner Atwal and Joe Ogilvie, Nick Watney, and Jason Day are tied for first after all shooting 66. He gave away five shots over the last five holes for the disappointing finish, even though he had a promising start.
His best play so far this year has been off the tee. The defending champion hit driver on all but three holes, and had only two birdies. Both birdies were on the opening hole. He was poised to join the leaderboard crowd at one under, but a three putt from 50 feet on the 14th put him back at even par, and he deteriorated from then on.
He swing on the 16th was so bad he flung his wedge at his bag and started walking away as the ball flared to the right and sunk into the bunker. However bad his iron play was, he felt his putting was worse. "I just putted awful, really. My speed was good, but I never hit the ball on line.”
It’s become a bore to continually report the disappointing play of a once great golfer. Instead, Newsstands have been erupting with stories about his divorce settlements, custody battles, and relationship with a doctor charged with the illegal distribution of Human Growth Hormones.
On Wednesday a report in the London Sun stated Woods and soon to be ex wife Elin Nordegren had reached a settlement agreement to the whopping sum of $750 million. The only conditions stated that Elin would remain silent on his numerous affairs.
Forbes magazine reported Thursday that this can’t mathematically be true since Woods isn’t worth that much. According to the financial magazine, Woods is worth an estimated $600 million. Woods lost a lot last year when he was dropped by big time corporate sponsors like AT&T, Accenture, and Gillette. Add to this the fact that he hasn’t won a tournament since returning from his self inflicted exile, and it’s easy to see why the pro golfer is not worth as much as he used to be.
According to the June 2009 issue of Forbs magazine, Woods is the top paid athlete in the world, earning $110 million in 2008-2009. He is also the first athlete in history to reach $1 billion dollars. His break from professional golf was estimated by Media to cost the golf industry a whopping $591 million in losses.
Woods was questioned by federal agents after the first round at the AT&T National. Woods received blood spinning, a legal treatment after his knee surgery in 2008, from the Canadian based doctor Anthony Galea. Woods “co-operated” with investigators during the several hours of questioning that took place. His agent Mark Steinberg confirmed he was not under investigation, “because he did nothing illegal, he is not the subject of criminal investigation.”
Galea is charged with conspiracy to defraud, smuggling, and unlawful distribution of Human growth hormone in May after his assistant was arrested at a Pearce Bridge border crossing with vials of HGH, medical equipment, and files in her possession. The doctor faces charges in the US and Canada, and has been linked to big name NFL players.
The World’s No.1 golfer is no longer the host of the AT&T nationals since being dropped by the company last year. He remains the title sponsor with proceeds going to the Tiger Woods Foundation but the relationship between former sponsor and woods is awkward to say the least.
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