While Tiger Woods has reached the heights of success in his professional life, a quick look at his personal life gives a different answer. Throughout his professional career, various rumors have plagued Woods. From his controversial divorce with ex-wife Elin Nordegren or the breakup with former girlfriend Erica Herman to his former caddie, Steve Williams, confessing that Woods treated him like a slave, (though he later denied it).
There have been many things that show the jumbled relationships that he has had. Now, 25 years after their abrupt separation, the 15-time major winner’s former manager, Hughes Norton, has described the ruthless reality of Tiger Woods’s emotions. The author of Rainmaker weighed in, “It’s just so bizarre the way Tiger severs relationships with people in his life, whether it’s caddies, girlfriends, or managers.”
In his book Rainmaker, the infamous golf manager explained that on September 26, 1998, an “emotionless” and “zombie-like” Woods knocked on the door of Isleworth Clubhouse and told him he was no longer needed. The two never talked ever again. Recounting that night, Norton said, “The worst part, honestly, was that there was no explanation.” The two joined hands when Woods debuted in 1996; however, two years later, Norton no longer represented the golfer.
Talking about his firing, Norton said to Today’s Golfer, “I would love to sit down with Tiger today and say, ‘Flashback 25 years, what was the reason? You never gave me any indication that something was wrong or that you weren’t happy’. That leads into my feelings of betrayal because it was very tough to swallow.” Norton’s narration of how he and Woods parted ways, and the golfer ended his relationship with everyone reflects on what Erica Herman alleged about her breakup in the fall of 2022.
Tiger Woods and his past relationships
In 2023, Erica Herman filed a lawsuit against Tiger Woods. Per the 40-year-old, she was ‘tricked’ by Woods’s staff to pack bags for a short vacation to the Bahamas. However, allegedly once she was out of the house and reached the airport, she was informed that she was not to be returned to the mansion and could not contact the golfer and the kids ever again. She said in the lawsuit that she was ‘locked out’ of his house with no return. The two were in a tumultuous lawsuit, which Herman dropped in November 2023.
Steve Williams, Woods’s caddie of almost 12 years also claimed that he was dumped abruptly. After Woods took a short break in 2011, Williams decided to caddie for someone else. At first, Woods said it was not an issue, Williams told the New Zealand Herald. However, a few days later, his agent called to say, if he worked with anyone else his tenure with Woods would end. Williams didn’t take it to heart and still went to the job, but he got another call to be informed that he “no longer had a job.”
The two are now on good terms with each other but at one point didn’t have any contact. In his 48 years of life, there have been numerous times when Woods’s irregular relationships were put out in public. What are your thoughts about Norton’s revelation?
