Matchmaker apologises to Tiger Woods' wife

Last updated 15:52 03/12/2009

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FRONT PAGE: A magazine cover image featuring the Tiger Woods cheating claims released by US Weekly.

TROUBLED TIMES: Tiger Woods with his wife, Elin Nordegren, at the opening ceremonies for the Presidents Cup.

Tiger Woods' crashed Cadillac SUV

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A Florida Highway Patrol photo of damage to Tiger Woods' Cadillac SUV.

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Jesper Parnevik, who introduced fellow golfer Tiger Woods to his future wife Elin Nordegren eight years ago, today said he owed an apology to his fellow Swede and former nanny.

World number one Woods, who has had two children with Nordegren since their marriage in 2004, issued his own apology earlier today for "transgressions" that apparently addressed allegations he had extra-marital relationships.

"I am very sad of course," Parnevik told the Golf Channel.

"I really feel sorry for Elin since me and my wife were at fault for hooking her up with him."

Nordegren was working as nanny to the children of Parnevik and his wife Mia when she first met Woods during the 2001 British Open at Royal Lytham in England.

"We probably thought he was a better guy than he is then," added the 44-year-old Swede, a five-times winner on the PGA Tour.

"I would probably need to apologise to her (Elin)."

Woods mysteriously crashed into a fire hydrant and a tree while pulling out of the driveway of his home in Windermere, Florida last Friday and Nordegren used a golf club to smash a window of the car to get him out.

Woods, the greatest player of his generation and perhaps of all time, has since been engulfed in speculation over his private life following media reports that he and his wife had argued before the crash.

"It's a private thing, of course," said Parnevik, who was speaking at this week's PGA Tour qualifying tournament at Bear Lakes Country Club in Florida.

"But when you are the guy he is, the world's best athlete, you should think more before you do stuff and maybe not 'Just do it,' like Nike says."

One of the world's most recognisable figures with a squeaky clean, hard-working image, Woods has lucrative endorsement deals with major companies such as Nike , AT&T , and Gillette, a unit of Procter & Gamble.

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- Reuters