Sunday Territorian 4 Apr 2010
Sunday Territorian; NewspaperNT
2010-04-04
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English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin.; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin.
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
Darwin
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Nationwide News Pty. Limited
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/220182
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/700380
12 Sunday Territorian, Sunday, April 4, 2010 www.sundayterritorian.com.au P U B : N T N E W S D A T E : 4 -A P R -2 0 1 0 P A G E : 1 2 C O L O R : C M Y K NEWS EXTRA ON COURSE: After revelatations of a string of affairs, disgraced golf champ Tiger Woods is set to stride the immaculate fairways of Augusta National Golf Club this week at the US Masters. And when he does, fans and critics alike will be watching closely When getting the schtick really hurts Harem to watch Tiger strut at Augusta By CARLY CRAWFORD in New York WHEN Tiger Woods strides down the immaculate fairways of Augusta National Golf Club, Jaimee Grubbs will be watching. So will Corey, Rachel, Mindy, Joslyn, Devon and the countless other women in his harem. Like millions of Woods fans and critics, they will tune in to see if the worlds first billionaire athlete can salvage his wrecked reputation by doing what he does best hitting a golf ball. Over five salacious months, philandering Woods has gone from icon to punch line. On Wednesday, he launches his bid to resurrect his battered image by collecting his fifth green jacket. By ending his shameful exile and stepping back into the spotlight, the disgraced champion has cast himself as the star of what could be the biggest US television event of all time, the Masters 2010. He has also stirred a hornets nest of mistresses who have stories to tell and nothing to lose. Since November 27, when Woods crashed his car into a tree after an argument with his wife over his extra-martial affairs, 15 women have come forward claiming affairs. He denied everything until the evidence was overwhelming at which point he checked into a rehabilitation clinic. After two months, he resurfaced with a scripted public apology followed by his March 16 declaration that his indefinite break from golf would end at the Augusta Masters from April 8-11. Mistress No. 15 took that as her cue to out their fling and warn there were still more like her. I promise you there will be plenty of other girls coming out, Tampa Bay adult film actress Devon James said. The May issue of Vanity Fair has just hit newsstands in the US. It spares few details as it charts Woods fall through the eyes of porn stars, waitresses, and nightclub hostesses who brought him down. His lovers share details of intimate encounters and reveal that the sports star who, at the height of his powers, made $100 million a year in sponsorship barely spent a cent on them. I dont want to be rude and say he was cheap, but he was, nightclub hostess Jamie Jungers, 26, told Vanity Fair. Woods had business partner Byron Bell arrange her flights to the cities where she and Woods were to rendezvous, but to her dismay, Team Tiger would fly her economy on no-frills airlines. My mum would always say you tell them to fly you first class, its Tiger Woods, he can afford to do that, Jungers said. Mindy Lawton, the waitress who works at a cafe 1km from Woods mansion in Windermere, Florida, has a similar story. As she prepared to meet him by dressing in cherry red lingerie (his favourite), he called to tell her he would be late. Im getting something to eat at Subway, he told her. Lawton said: Im pretty hungry too could you pick me up a chicken wrap? That was the only thing he ever bought her. Lawton believes it was her affair with Woods that sparked a controversial deal between his managers and a major US media company for a Mens Fitness cover story. In December, the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal reported that American Media and Woods agent had decided to grant Mens Fitness a cover story if American Medias other publication the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer agreed to pull a story about his tryst with Lawton. When Enquirer reporters contacted Lawtons brother-in-law, she seized her cell phone and texted Woods: The National Enquirer has found out! Woods, calm as ever, responded: They have no proof. But when they realised the reporters had witnessed their early morning romp in a church car park, Woods instructed her to call his manager, Mark Steinberg at IMG. Well take care of it, Lawton said Steinberg responded. Celebrity scandals do not get much bigger than Tiger Woods fall from grace. No other US publication covers scandal better than the bold, brash New York Post. The paper ran the story on the front page for at least 20 days straight and features heavily in the Vanity Fair spread. Woods mistress Loredana Ferrilo is photographed at the Waldorf Towers, completely naked on a bed that is strewn with copies of the Post. Since November, the most personal, humiliating details of Woods sexual endeavours have been laid bare in newspapers, magazines and on television worldwide. But womanising was not Woods only indulgence. Although he is no gambling addict, he is a big time punter who enjoys premium whale status at the most expensive casinos in Las Vegas, Vanity Fair reports. When Tiger showed up in Vegas, it was always with Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, Las Vegas Review Journal gossip columnist Norm Clarke told the magazine. He would play at the Mansion at the MGM Grand, which requires a $1 million credit line, which usually requires you to play $25,000 a hand, he said. It is a $5000-a-night hotel whose high-rollers room is decked out with bubbling fountains, Rolls Royces, swimming pools. At night, they (Woods and his basketball buddies) would go to the club Light where Tiger would sit on top of a banquette and he would stand out. It became a testosterone game they were surrounded by all these star-banging gold diggers and Vegas makes you think you can get away with anything. Tiger wanted to show he could play in Jordan and Barkleys league. It was a scene that Woods early handlers had tried to warn him off. Stay away from that son of a bitch (Jordan) because he doesnt have anything to offer to the world in which he lives except playing basketball, which he did yesterday, Woods adviser John Merchant told him. Are they your role models? Youve got to be kidding. Way back in 1996, when Woods turned pro, Team Tiger and Merchant parted company over a financial dispute, leaving Woods solely in the hands of global marketing giant IMG, Vanity Fair reported. Today, Merchant wonders if his guiding hand might have kept Woods on the straight and narrow. I honestly believe that if I had been there these things would not have happened, he said. I care about Tiger the person, who has earned the right to be respected. Everybody he talks to has to protect their pay check. I loved that boy, I watched him grow over years, I watched him relate to his father, I see all of that destroyed. These days, Woods is the butt of increasingly more jokes. Sex shops sell Tiger Woods condoms. His saucy voicemails to his mistresses are circulating as mobile phone ring tones. For Merchant, it is a heartbreaking indictment on those around the 34-year-old superstar. Hes better than that, or someone should have steered him to better than that, Merchant told the magazine. He believes Woods marriage to one-time model Elin Nordegren was an elaborate ruse. It was part of his PR image, Merchant said. You cannot be what it is we are putting you in a position to be unless you have a wife and children. Ironically, without that marriage, in October 2004, there would be no scandal today. Spin or not, Nordegren, 30, was furious when she learned of Woods infidelity. She chased him out of the house with a golf club and later scooped up their children Sam, 3, and Charlie, 1, and moved into a rental home near the couples mansion. She has considered divorce, but for now appears to be sticking with Woods for the sake their children, according to People magazine. On Thursday, when Woods tees off for his big comeback, the Swedish stunner nicknamed the ice queen for her aloof nature is not expected to be cheering him on. Elin does not want to go to the Masters and is preparing for a trip to see her family and friends in Sweden, a source told People magazine.