Tiger Woods is lonely, watching cartoons and eating cereal all by himself. His friends fear the celebrity golfer is going through such mental agony that he is close to “cracking up”, reports The Sun.
A series of sex scandals is threatening to ruin his career, his marriage with Elin Nordegren, and now his doctor has been charged with selling illegal drugs. Woods, who has shunned friends and family, is no longer in a state of mind to cope with all this, say friends of the 33—year—old golf superstar.
He changed his mobile phone number the day after his late—night car crash, which sparked a stream of revelations. So friends can no longer contact him, reports thesun.co.uk.
Woods is said to have locked himself in one of his two Florida homes and cannot even watch his favourite sports channel as it carries regular updates on his romps with a string of lovers.
“There is a real concern among his friends that he is dealing with the situation in a very unhealthy way,” said a source.
His basketball star pal Charles Barkley said: “I’ve been trying to get to him and can’t. It’s very frustrating.” He wanted to tell Woods, “Hey, man, we love you. If you need anything, pick up the phone.”
Woods’ wife Elin, 29, has reportedly told friends she will file for divorce in the New Year. She had earlier hoped to give the marriage another chance for the sake of their two kids.
Once seen as a squeaky clean athletic role model, Woods has been tainted by allegations of serial infidelities with as many as 14 women around the US, including various waitresses, nightclub hostesses and porn stars.
Woods has had a phenomenal career, earning more than $1 billion in his rapid 13—year rise, commanding huge fees for sports endorsements and revolutionising sports marketing.
But things are changing rapidly.
After reports of his marital infidelity, management consultancy firm Accenture announced it would discontinue its sponsorship agreement with the scandal—tainted golfer. Gillette has also axed a 12 million pound (about $19.4 million) marketing deal with him.
Pepsi bosses have also held talks about their 60 million—pound five—year contract with Woods and US phone giant AT&T is “evaluating” its link with the star.
Another development that can affect Woods is that his doctor, Canadian sports medicine specialist Anthony Galea, has been charged with selling performance—enhancing drugs to his high—profile clients.
Galea, 51, who runs the Institute of Sports Medicine and Wellness Center Inc. in Toronto, was on Wednesday charged by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) with selling the human growth hormone Actovegin.
Actovegin, which is derived from calf’s blood, is an unapproved drug in Canada.
Apart from Woods, Galea’s other top clients include Olympic gold medallist Donovan Bailey and many others. The sports doctor has also been charged with importing and exporting the unapproved drugs.
Pop star Jessica Simpson, who was once snapped with Woods at a golf tournament, was linked to the sports star by America’s Star magazine. But she is planning legal action against the magazine. The publication reported the pair had swapped contact details, reports contactmusic.com.
“Literally the only thing that’s true in the story is the fact that they met. It was a quick meeting and they posed for a photo together — that was it. Jessica’s lawyer is sending them (Star magazine) a letter,” the singer—actress’ publicist told E! News.
