A Timeline Of The Scandals That Led To Tiger Woods' Downfall From Fame

At certain points in time, some athletes have dominated the sports in which they excelled, earning them GOAT (Greatest of All Time) status. Think Tom Brady in NFL football, Brazilian soccer superstar Pelé, and tennis phenom Novak Djokovic. But when it comes to golf, there are few players who have reached the heights achieved by Tiger Woods — and even fewer who experienced such a dramatic fall from grace.

Just 19 years old when he first competed at the Masters in 1995, the young golfer turned pro one year later and joined the PGA Tour. During the 2000-2001 season, fans witnessed the "Tiger Slam" when the rookie golfer won all four of golf's major titles. Along with all that success came lucrative sponsorship deals, including a $100 million deal with Nike. In September 2009, Woods became the first athlete in the world to surpass $1 billion in career earnings. But just a few weeks later, it all came crashing down when an automobile accident triggered a series of controversial moments that have continued to dog Woods as the years passed. Read on for a timeline of the scandals that led to Tiger Woods' downfall from fame.

In November 2009, Tiger Woods was at the peak of his success and popularity. That all began to change he was involved in a car accident near his home in Orlando, Florida on November 26. He was briefly hospitalized after crashing his 2009 Escalade into a fire hydrant and then into a tree. At the time, authorities confirmed that alcohol had not been a factor in the accident; an investigation led to Woods being fined $164, and he did not face any criminal charges.

However, further details began to emerge, and they were explosive. At the heart of everything was a National Enquirer story that had just been published, alleging Woods had been having an affair with a woman named Rachel Uchitel. That understandably alarmed Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren, who confronted her husband about the tabloid's claims. Woods denied everything, even putting her in touch with Uchitel, who assured her the Enquirer's claims were false. Yet she remained suspicious. When Woods fell asleep, Nordegren scrolled through his phone and discovered the number of another woman, Jaimee Grubbs. She then texted Uchitel, pretending to be her husband; suffice it to say, Uchitel's responses made Nordegren realize her husband's denials of infidelity were lies. 

She awoke Woods from an Ambien-induced slumber and angrily confronted him. The conversation grew heated, and Woods tore out of the house, jumped into his Escalade and drove off. Nordegren followed in close pursuit while driving a golf cart. It was at this point that Woods crashed his car. Finding him unconscious behind the wheel, Nordegren reportedly smashed out the Escalade's rear windows with a golf club and pulled him from the vehicle. For Woods, all hell was about to break loose.

Rachel Uchitel, the woman whom the National Enquirer claimed that Tiger Woods was sleeping with, hired famed attorney Gloria Allred. A press conference was called but quickly cancelled (amid rumors that Woods had paid her millions to keep her mouth shut — which Uchitel later confirmed, claiming she'd been paid $8 million for her silence). However, it was all too late. The cat was out of the bag; suddenly, a tsunami of women emerged from the woodwork, all claiming they had also slept with Woods. Among Woods' lengthy list of alleged affairs are porn stars, escorts, exotic dancers and more. When the dust settled, it was revealed that Woods had cheated on his wife with a staggering 120 women.

The damage to Woods' reputation was severe, and his sponsors were not pleased. He was dropped by Gatorade, Accenture, and AT&T, while his ad campaigns for Tag Heuer and Gillette were immediately suspended. All told, the sex scandal reportedly cost him $50 million in lost revenue. A decade later, Woods remained scarred by the experience of being exposed so publicly. "He still thinks about his sex scandal every day," a source told People in 2019. "It's always there, in the back of his mind. He doesn't like to talk about it — or even anything that was happening at that time of his life. It's painful to him."

As it turned out, many of the women who'd slept with Tiger Woods were eager to tell all, and supermarket tabloids were just as eager to pay them for it. Jaimee Grubbs was reportedly paid $150,000 by Us Weekly to supply the magazine with voicemails Woods had left for her. She wasn't the only woman to talk to the media; porn star Joslyn James claimed that Woods had impregnated her twice during the course of their affair. Cori Rist, a one-time lingerie model, dropped some unexpected details by alleging that Woods had a tendency to watch cartoons on TV while enjoying a bowl of Froot Loops.

As more information emerged about the many, many women Woods had bedded, it was revealed that he wasn't above paying for sex. Interviewed by "Inside Edition," Michelle Braun — described as a "Hollywood madam" — claimed that she had procured women for Woods on 12 different occasions and that he typically requested several women at a time. Over the course of a year, he'd paid her a quarter of a million dollars — and definitely had a specific type in mind. "Petite, blonde, natural, not overly busty — and girls that partied ... in my industry, a girl that was open to doing drugs," Braun said of Woods' specific requests for escorts. According to Braun, Woods was insatiable. "One girl, when I called her to go back, she said, 'I don't know if I can keep up with him ... he can go for days,'" she added.

In January 2010, reports began to emerge that Tiger Woods had entered a treatment facility in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He'd reportedly checked himself into the Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services clinic, which specializes in the rehabilitation of sexual addiction. Woods subsequently confirmed those reports, stating that he'd spent 45 days receiving in-patient therapy.

Woods' confession that he'd been treated for sex addiction triggered an avalanche of people — primarily men — who similarly sought treatment. According to Dr. Robert Weiss, founder of the Sexual Recovery Institute in LA, the number of people inquiring about treatment at his facility at the time had increased by 50% following Woods' admission, while the institute's website had received an unheard-of 13,000 hits within a month. "I don't think it's accidental," Weiss told ABC News. "Even those who don't ask for help are looking for information." 

In March 2010 interview, Woods was asked why he hadn't sought treatment sooner. "I didn't know I was that bad," he told ESPN, explaining how he came to the conclusion he needed help. "Stripping away denial, rationalization, you strip all that away and you find the truth," he said. 

As more sordid details of Tiger Woods' sex scandal emerged, seemingly by the minute, he held a televised press conference to deliver a statement of apology. "I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible, selfish behavior," Woods said in February 2010, as reported by People. "I know people want to find out how I could be so selfish and so foolish. People want to know how I could have done these things to my wife Elin and to my children." In his remarks, Woods took full responsibility for what he'd done. "I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did is not acceptable — and I am the only person to blame." It was his own choices and actions, he said, that led him down the path he'd taken. "I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to," he added. "I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me."

Many were struck by his apparent sincerity and candor. ABC news anchor George Stephanopoulos summed it up when he told viewers (via CBS News), "He left nothing on the table. This is a man who has thought a lot about what he did." Not everyone felt similarly, though. "What I saw was arrogance," Rick Cerrone, former director of public relations with the New York Yankees, declared while appearing on CNN. "It was basically an infomercial."

In the midst of Tiger Woods' attempts at damage control while managing his ever-expanding scandal, his wife, Elin Nordegren was reportedly undecided about whether to seek a divorce or not. What ultimately finalized her decision, however, was the discovery that one of the many women Woods had bedded was Raychel Coudriet, the 21-year-old daughter of a neighbor — whom they'd known since she was 14 years old

In August 2010, Nordegren and Woods officially divorced. While details of the settlement weren't disclosed, initial estimates guessed that she could receive as much as $750 million; however, it was eventually reported that Nordegren received $100 million from the divorce. Nordegren finally broke her silence in a 2010 interview. "I've been through hell," she told People. "It's hard to think you have this life, and then all of a sudden — was it a lie?" She also claimed she'd been so busy raising the couple's two children that she hadn't suspected a thing until the National Enquirer published its story, and she'd been blindsided by the jaw-dropping extent of her ex-husband's rampant cheating. "I'm so embarrassed that I never suspected — not a one," she added.

Like most controversies, Tiger Woods' sex scandal eventually faded. Public interest in Woods and his multiple mistresses subsided, and he refocused his attention on golf. In that regard, however, he faced a series of setbacks after experiencing issues with this back that required several surgeries. But yet another setback occurred in May 2017, when he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. According to the police report, officers found Woods asleep at the wheel of his vehicle, which was parked at the side of a road. After the officers woke him up, he agreed to take a breathalyzer test — which revealed a blood alcohol content of .000. Toxicology tests, however, revealed several drugs in his system, including Vicodin, Dilaudid, Xanax, Ambien, and THC.

"I understand the severity of what I did and I take full responsibility for my actions," said Woods in his statement, reiterating alcohol had not been a factor (via People). "What happened was an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications. I didn't realize the mix of medications had affected me so strongly," he added, promising to do everything within his power to avoid similar incidents in the future. Woods ultimately avoided jail time by pleading guilty to the lesser charge of reckless driving; he was sentenced to a year of probation and ordered to pay a $250 fine, as well as perform 50 hours of community service and attend DUI education classes.

Among Tiger Woods' business ventures is The Woods, a restaurant he owns in Jupiter, Florida. That ownership led him to be on the receiving end of a wrongful death lawsuit in 2019, when a 24-year-old bartender who worked there died in a car accident after becoming intoxicated while drinking at the restaurant. The parents of the deceased bartender, Nicholas Immesberger, sued Woods. According to court documents obtained by TMZ, the lawsuit contended that Immesberger had been served to the point of "severe intoxication" (his blood alcohol level at the time of the fatal car crash was more than three times the legal limit) — and that Woods and his restaurant were responsible. 

Woods was subsequently dropped as a defendant in the lawsuit, but the restaurant itself and Woods' girlfriend Erica Herman (who was employed as the restaurant's general manager) remained defendants. The lawsuit was subsequently dismissed, with the judge determining that Immesberger had served himself the alcoholic beverages and hadn't paid for them, which technically left the restaurant off the hook.

Of the many tragic details of Tiger Woods is his extensive history of accidents and injuries. In February 2021, for instance, Woods was driving in Los Angeles when he got into a major accident and his vehicle rolled over. "The vehicle sustained major damage," read a statement tweeted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Woods had been rushed to a hospital. "Tiger Woods was in a single-car accident this morning in California where he suffered multiple leg injuries," Woods' agent, Mark Steinberg, said in a statement to People. "He is currently in surgery and we thank you for your privacy and support."

More information on his injuries emerged, with a tweet from Woods' X account stating that he'd undergone emergency surgery, having "suffered significant orthopaedic injuries to his right lower extremity." The surgery proved to be successful; a few months later, Woods shared a photo of himself while he recovered, via Instagram, in which he stood with crutches and a leg brace. "I will be recovering at home and working on getting stronger every day," said Woods in a statement, per ESPN.

Woods was not hit with any charges. "This remains an accident," LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said during a press briefing, as reported by People. "An accident is not a crime." It was subsequently revealed that the extent of his injuries from the crash were more severe than most people realized. Woods shared that the damage to his leg was so extreme that doctors considered amputation. "There was a point in time when, I wouldn't say it was 50/50, but it was damn near there if I was going to walk out of that hospital with one leg," he told Golf Digest.

Tiger Woods and Erica Herman — manager at his restaurant, The Woods — began dating in 2017. While she was a frequent presence during his golf competitions, the couple kept details of their relationship private. When the romance ended, however, that privacy was shattered when she took her ex to court in 2023. In her lawsuit, Herman claimed that when he asked her to move out of his home he'd broken an oral agreement to allow her to live there for an additional five years. She sought $30 million in damages. She then launched a separate suit, this time requesting that a nondisclosure agreement she'd signed when they first began dating be voided. 

It's no secret that Woods lives an incredibly lavish life, and Herman characterized her living situation as a tenancy, with her living in Woods' multimillion-dollar mansion as being dependent on maintaining a sexual relationship with him. This, stated her lawsuit, constituted sexual harassment. Woods' lawyers balked, and they hit back hard; as Golf Digest reported, their response described Herman as a "jilted ex-girlfriend who wants to publicly litigate specious claims in court." When the NDA case was brought before a judge, he sided with Woods by agreeing the NDA should remain in force. Herman later dropped her lawsuit altogether, bringing that particular chapter of Woods' dating history to a litigious conclusion.

In late March of 2026, Tiger Woods crashed his car while driving near his home in Jupiter, Florida. Once again, he'd rolled his car, this time in an accident involving another vehicle. Unlike his previous rolling crash, Woods walked away uninjured, as did the driver of the other vehicle. This time, however, Woods was placed under arrest and charged with DUI. During a subsequent press conference, reported People, Martin County Sheriff John M. Budensiek stated that Woods appeared "lethargic on scene because of what he was intoxicated on," confirming the athlete "did exhibit signs of impairment." As in his previous DUI, Woods took a breathalyzer test and blew "triple zeroes." However, the sheriff pointed out that Woods had refused to take a urinalysis test.

At the time of his arrest, Woods told officers he'd been looking downward at his phone while changing the radio station. According to the affidavit, Woods' eyes were described as "bloodshot and glassy," and he was "sweating profusely" when questioned by investigators (via USA Today). The affidavit also revealed that a sheriff's deputy discovered two pills in the pocket of Woods' pants; these were later identified as hydrocodone, a powerful opioid used to alleviate pain — not surprising with the extent of Woods' injuries and resulting chronic pain. Police bodycam footage of Woods after his latest DUI crash was wild to see, as he appeared confused and disoriented when an officer handcuffed him. "I'm being arrested?" he asked, per The Guardian. Woods was charged with DUI and released on bail. He entered a plea of not guilty and requested a jury trial.