In 1976 I received a phone call that a colleague I worked with had been murdered by his wife the night before. I had replaced this man on a previous assignment and we were reasonably close friends. I had dinner at his house twice and met the wife and kids. His wife put a 12 gauge shotgun on the back of his head while he slept and pulled both triggers.
The next Monday I was told I was going to replace my deceased friend. When I got to the office the media was all over the place. Since I knew absolutely nothing about the situation, I was the perfect interview. Like Klink on Hogan’s Hero’s, I knew nothing.
As I began to remove his personal items from the desk, I found a diary. He had put together a balance sheet with reasons to stay married and reasons to seek a divorce. On the liability side were the reasons for seeking divorce.
There were incidents of escalating anger. First, his wife had taken a hatchet to an antique rocking chair that had been in his family for years. Later, she took a hammer to a car he had restored. The last entry showed she had scratched his face and he had to wear make-up to the office.
He had a lady he was seeing. Not eleven, like Tiger, but one. I later met the lady and she didn’t measure up to the man’s wife. But, the man’s wife had anger issues. Very serious anger issues.
She never spent one night in jail. She was hospitalized, then released pending trial. She was found not guilty by insanity. She went to a mental hospital and was released in less than a week.
So, Mr. Woods. If any of the rumors are true, if Elin took a golf club to you or your car, I would cancel your plans to work out a new prenup where she stays with you for any period of time. Tiger, I would never get within two state lines of Elin.
One other point. The lady who murdered my associate stayed in the same house and raised the two daughters who were awakened by the shots, and one who even went into the room and saw the aftermath. Two years later a friend told me the wife was dating an officer from a local base. He called one day and said he heard screaming and saw the officer exiting the house with the little lady in hot pursuit. He jumped in his car and she jumped in her’s and chased him down the street. The officer was never seen visiting again.
Tiger, you have changed your life forever. You could not stand a camera click in your back swing. You sent Stevie to grab the camera. Stevie is getting a little old for what you are going to need him to do next season. You will be hearing hoots and jeers and nasty comments for the next year or longer. You have always impressed everyone with your toughness. We will see how tough you really are.
But, tough as you might be, I suggest you give Elin a lot of slack. I see a lot of similarities between Elin and the sweet, nice mother of two who calmly blew my friend’s head off while he slept for cheating on her. With one lady, remember, not eleven or twenty or however many more will be coming forth.
