Former CEO of American Media David Pecker appeared before the New York Supreme Court as part of the Donald Trump vs New York case, and unearthed a sex scandal involving Tiger Woods
An alleged affair surrounding 82-time PGA Tour winner Tiger Woods has been unearthed during the trial of Donald Trump at the New York Supreme Court.
Trump’s hush money trial entered day eight on Friday, with David Pecker appearing before the court as a witness. During his testimony Pecker revealed he purchased images of Woods with another woman during the golfer’s relationship with Elin Nordegren.
At the time, Pecker was chief executive of American Media, and admitted to buying the photos before agreeing to bury them in order to get Woods to appear on the cover of Men’s Fitness in August 2007.
The 15-time major champion went on to work with the fitness magazine, starring on the front cover as part of a special 20th anniversary edition, along with a 12-page feature about how he manages his diet and fitness regime. Two years after the initial photos of Woods were cast aside by Pecker, an affair surrounding the golfer and Rachel Uchitel was exposed.
This led to the separation of Woods and ex-wife Nordegren, who have two kids together in Sam, 16 and Charlie, 15. The latter opted to follow in the footsteps of his father, having began his career in golf at High School level in recent years. Charlie also attempted to qualify for this year’s U.S. Open this week, but failed to make it through.
Since divorcing Nordegren in 2010, Woods has dated Olympic skier Lindsay Vonn and Kristen Smith. More recently the American star shared a relationship with Erica Herman, who was the general manager of his flagship restaurant, The Woods Jupiter, in his home town in Florida.
Tiger Woods featured in Men’s Fitness in 2007 ( Image: Getty)
The pair have since split, with Herman filing a lawsuit against Woods after asking to be removed from a non-disclosure-agreement the two had signed at the beginning of their relationship. Herman cited the Speak Out Act, which allows an NDA to be nullified in cases of sexual assault and harassment.
Herman made no accusations against Woods, and the former restaurant manager dropped the case against the 48-year-old last November. Woods’ career on the golf course has been limited in recent years, having sustained severe injuries to his leg during a car crash in Los Angeles in February 2021.
Since then, the 15-time major winner has played in just eight PGA Tour tournaments, completing all 72 holes on just four occasions. His last outing came at this month’s Masters, where Woods made history by making a 24th consecutive 36-hole cut at Augusta National.
The weekend however turned out to be more of a struggle for the five-time Masters champion though, as he carded the worst round of his major championship career with a 10-over-par 82 in his third round. Woods went on to finish the week in 60th, shooting 16-over-par across his four rounds.
