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"My relationship with Tiger is centered around our children, and we are doing really good, we really are, and I am so happy that is the case. He is a great father."

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Elin Nordegren never went looking for the spotlight, but was thrust into it throughout the 2000s for her high-profile marriage to sports legend Tiger Woods. To suddenly became famous when it was the last thing you ever wanted is never easy, but Elin would wind up handling her overnight celebrity with grace and dignity, holding her head high through the media scrutiny and scandal to which she was subjected.

The Swedish Model

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Elin Nordegren was born January 1, 1980, to two very accomplished parents in Stockholm, Sweden. Her mother, Barbro Holmberg, was a high-profile politician, serving as the minister of asylum and migration policy for Sweden, and Governing over Gavleborg County. Elin's father Thomas Nordegren worked as a radio journalist and served in Washington, D.C. as a bureau chief.

From a young age, Elin's goal had been to pursue child psychology, and every job she held in the meantime was to support that dream. These jobs included a lot of menial positions, working summer jobs at supermarkets, but eventually led her to modeling, appearling on the summer 2000 cover of Cafe Sport magazine.

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"I have confidence in my beliefs, my decisions, and myself."

She never really took to modeling full time, however, and would take a job at Stockholm clothing shop Champagne. It was here that she befriended Mia Parnevik, the wife of famous Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik. Mia offered Elin a nanny job, which would have the young Nordegren moving to the United States. While working as nanny for the Parnevik family, Mia became a member of the golfing social scene, being introduced to Tiger Woods at the Open Championship in 2001.

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It was hardly love at first sight. In fact, Elin had a long line of suitors, with every single golfer asking the Parneviks to introduce them to their beautiful nanny. For the first year Elin was in the US, she and Tiger had never been anything more than acquaintances.

Rumors eventually began to circulate about the two, and the relationship became official when the two were seen together in South Africa at the Presidents Cup tournament in 2003. Tiger proposed to Elin at the Shamwari Game Reserve that year, and the two married at the 19th hole of Sandy Lane in Barbados in October of 2004. For the wedding, Woods rented the entire luxury resort, spending close to two million dollars.

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Sudden Celebrity

Celebrity comes with its share of privilege and glamour, but Nordegren soon found out that it comes with its downsides, as well. Overnight, Elin's quiet, private life would be invaded by paparazzi and rumor-mill reporters. Irish magazine The Dubliner ran nude photographs falsely purported to be of Elin, leading to Nordegren hitting the magazine with a libel suit, winning one hundred twenty five thousand euros and forcing The Dubliner to print an apology.

In 2007, Elin and Tiger Woods had their first child, Sam Alexis Woods, born just after the close of the US Open. The next year they announced that they had a second on the way, and in 2009 Elin gave birth to Charlie Axel Woods.

Elin and Tiger's marriage ended in 2010 after reports of Tiger's infidelity came out in the press the year prior. While the marriage itself would not last, Elin and Tiger remain on good terms and share parenting duties for Sam and Charlie. Following the divorce, Elin was able to devote herself again to her studies, from which she had to take a long hiatus during her time in the media spotlight. In 2014 she earned her degree in child psychology from from Winter Park, Florida's Rollins College, where she won the school's reward for Outstanding Seniors.

Since her marriage to Tiger Woods came to a close, Elin has returned to the quiet life she enjoyed before her sudden fame. She has dated philanthropist Chris Cline, and announced her third pregnancy, with NFL player Jordan Cameron, in 2019. The biggest headline featuring Elin Nordegren following her divorce had to do with her purchase of a twelve million dollar Florida mansion, which would have to be demolished and rebuilt, as it did not meet hurricane safety regulations. Before having the home torn down, Elin invited Habitat for Humanity to salvage what they could from the mansion, collecting furniture and a twelve foot fountain to be auctioned off for the charity.

Where many sudden-celebrities are eager to cash in on their newfound fame with book deals and reality TV shows, Elin puts her children first, stepping away from the spotlight and raising the family away from the media.

"I know how fortunate I am."