Tiger Woods still haunted by sex scandal

Tiger Woods may be back on top of the golfing world but the sex scandal that obliterated his career — and reputation — still haunts him, reports torontosun.com. Woods, 43, launched a remarkable comeback win at the Masters Tournament last weekend. It was the superstar’s first major title in 11 years.

But in 2009, Woods — the best golfer of his generation — watched as it all came apart in the wake of a sex scandal that seemed to grow by the hour.“He still thinks about his sex scandal every day,” a friend told People magazine.“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. But he persevered and made himself into a better man.”

His glittering career and marriage hit the wall the day after Thanksgiving in 2009 when he crashed his Cadillac Escalade on the street outside his home.Woods’ then-wife, Elin Nordegren, used golf clubs to smash the luxury SUV’s rear windows. Cops were called. Woods was incoherent.

Then came the bimbo eruption as dozens of cocktail waitresses, PR flacks, porn stars and a slew of other women claimed they had engaged in sex with the golfer.From there, it was all downhill as Woods’ army of sponsors abandoned him and his game became like the limbo of an unforgiving sand trap.

From the No. 1 ranked golfer on the planet, he slid in the rankings to an abysmal No. 1,199.“He lost everything,” the source said. “And it was really rough for a really long time. He really found out who his friends were. He’s been left with a lot of scars.”

Injuries that had been plaguing Woods have been eased, thanks to a number of surgeries.He found peace co-parenting with his ex-wife, and his game returned. His children were on hand as their father won the Masters.“It means the world to me. Their love and their support, I just can’t say enough how much that meant to me throughout my struggles when I really just had a hard time moving around,” Woods told reporters.

“Just their infectiousness of happiness; you know, I was going through a tough time physically. There was a lot of times when I really couldn’t move and so that in itself is difficult.”In a way, the golfer’s injuries were a blessing in disguise.“He’s a completely different person than he was in 2009,” the source told People. “He was an overgrown boy back then. Now he’s a man.”

Meanwhile, Michael Jordan has described Woods Masters’ win as the greatest comeback in global sports, reports www.tmz.com. Forget coming back from a two-year baseball career to win an NBA championship … Jordan says Tiger Woods’ Masters victory last weekend is the greatest comeback of all-time!!!”He had to change his game; he had to change his perspective a little bit,” M.J. told The Athletic … “To me, it was the greatest comeback I’ve ever seen.”

Of course, Michael knows a thing or two about comebacks … he ended a two-year MLB career to return to the hardwood to win three straight NBA titles in the 1990s. But, even Jordan admits that can’t compare to what Tiger did this past weekend … returning from all kinds of injuries and off-the-course issues to be the best golfer in the world again.

“I never thought he’d get back physically,” Jordan said … “He didn’t think he’d get back physically. But he did it. No one expected him to be back the way he is now.”M.J. added, “He’s probably the only person who believed he could get back. To me, that’s a major accomplishment. To me, it’s unbelievable.”

Jordan ain’t the only one feeling that way … everyone from Donald Trump to Tom Brady to Michael Phelps commented on their amazement over TW’s 15th major championship win.As for the debate between who’s the greatest athlete of all time between Tiger and Jordan … we actually asked Scottie Pippen that this week — and you’ll wanna hear his answer …