 "Professional golfer Tiger Woods on Sunday confirmed his relationship with Vanessa Trump, former daughter-in-law of US President Donald Trump. Image Courtesy: @TigerWoods/X")
“Love is in the air…”
Professional golfer Tiger Woods on Sunday confirmed his relationship with Vanessa Trump, former daughter-in-law of US President Donald Trump.
“Love is in the air and life is better with you by my side! We look forward to our journey through life together,” Woods said on X, where has 6.4 million followers, adding, “At this time we would appreciate privacy for all those close to our hearts.”
Woods and Vanessa Trump had been seen at Torrey Pines in San Diego along with her daughter, Kai when Woods arrived for the final round to hand out the trophy to the winner of the Genesis Invitational. He is the tournament host.
One photo shows Woods and Vanessa Trump posing together, another with them lying in a hammock with her arm draped across his chest as he gazes skyward.
Who is Vanessa Trump?
Vanessa Trump, 47, is a former model who was signed to Wilhelmina Models in the 1990s and even appeared on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar in Australia.
She grew up on the Upper East Side and attended the upscale Dwight School, as per Cosmopolitan. The New York Times claims she received two superlatives in the high school yearbook, including perhaps “Be on Ricki Lake.”
Her mother, Bonnie Haydon, owned Kay Models Agency, while her father, Charles Haydon, practised law and represented famous people like Marilyn Monroe.
As a teenager, she and her sister Veronika enjoyed going out to clubs. The two sisters, who were born eleven months apart, even co-founded Sessa, a nightclub, in 2003 when they were just 25 years old.
From 2010 to 2013, she launched her handbag line, La Poshett.
Vanessa married Donald Trump Jr on November 12, 2005, at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida.
They share five children: daughters Kai and Chloe, and sons Donald III, Tristan, and Spencer. Kai, 17, is a golfer and set to play at the University of Miami in 2026.
Vanessa filed for an uncontested divorce in New York in March 2018. A child custody agreement was reached in July, and the divorce was finalised before the end of 2018.
However, as they coparent their five children together, the ex-couple has remained friendly.
According to People, Vanessa was previously linked to Saudi Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud before to her marriage to Donald Trump Jr.
She was also rumoured to have dated actor Leonardo DiCaprio and been in a relationship with local street gangster Valentin Rivera when she was a teenager.
Also read: After talks with Putin and Zelenskyy, is Trump closer to ending Ukraine war?
Her relationship with Tiger Woods
Woods and Vanessa Trump had been featured in gossip outlets for the last several weeks.
The pair, who live just 20 minutes apart in Florida’s Palm Beach, have reportedly been together since Thanksgiving, as per Dailymail.
Most of the Trump family, including children, were already aware of their relationship. In fact, Woods and Donald Trump have played golf together on multiple occasions.
In 2019, Woods received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump.
Woods met with Trump at the White House in February to talk about golf’s shattered state in the face of the LIV tour’s growth, which is supported by Saudi Arabia.
Before the relationship confirmation, Woods, who holds five Masters Tournament wins as well as four PGA Championship titles, on March 11, revealed that he had ruptured his left Achilles tendon, forcing him to miss the Masters and likely sidelining him for the rest of the year.
It was not clear what prompted Woods, who keeps his personal life fiercely private, to publish photos confirming the relationship. The post was reminiscent of 2013 when he and Lindsey Vonn announced on social media that they were dating.
Woods said at the time he and Vonn “wanted to limit the ‘stalkarazzi’ and all those sleazy websites that are out there following us,” saying it could lead to dangerous situations involving his children. He also said their photos would devalue anything the paparazzi had.
Woods’ previous relationships
For his part, Woods separated from his then-wife Elin Nordegren—with whom he shares kids Sam, 17, and Charlie, 16—in 2010 due to reports of his infidelity. Notably, Sam and Vanessa’s daughter Kai attend Benjamin School and even competed in a junior tournament by invitation.
After divorce with Nordegren, Woods went on to date Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn from 2012 to 2015.
He also dated Erica Herman, who was a manager at his Woods Jupiter restaurant, for seven years until October 2022. The relationship ended on a messy note and Herman eventually dismissed lawsuits against Woods and the trust that owns his south Florida estate, where she had been living.
With inputs from agencies