Tiger Woods weds Swedish sweetheart at Barbados resort
Thursday, October 7, 2004
SANDY LANE BEACH, Barbados (AFP): Tiger
Woods has tied the knot with Swedish model Elin Nordegren in a lavish sunset
ceremony at a posh Caribbean resort, reports said on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old golfing legend and the
former nanny exchanged marriage vows at the 19th hole of the Sandy Lane Golf
Resort in Barbados in a ceremony reputedly costing two million dollars.
A picture splashed across the front page of
the New York Post showed Woods in a beige suit and Nordegren in a wedding
dress with the headline "Tiger Weds - Swede life for golf hero and his bride."
Another photograph inside showed Woods
wiping his brow as his bride watched under the headline "Tiger's Love Link."
Three other male guests were visable in beige suits and two women wearing
light green dresses were also pictured.
The golfer, expected to become the first
sporting billionaire, hired the five-star complex for a week including its 110
rooms - which cost nearly 9,000 dollars a night each - and three golf courses.
A 57 million dollar, 150ft yacht, named
Privacy, has been anchored off the beach exclusively for his 150 guests, said
to include Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates and Michael Jordan, the London Daily
Telegraph said.
Woods is believed to be spending his
honeymoon on board the yacht, which he hired for two weeks at what the Post
reported was a cost of 140,000 dollars.
About 10,000 black roses adorned the resort
banquet room, where champagne and caviar were enjoyed by guests following the
vows, the Post reported.
More than 500 black roses were delivered to
the hotel and a team of hairdressers from London were flown in, according to
the Telegraph.
A small army of armed security personnel
patrolled the hotel and beach area, keeping onlookers, paparazzi and the
curious at a distance.
The couple exchanged rings under an arch of
flowers framed by the blue Caribbean and a spectacular sunset.
The guests then took their seats in a huge
marquee built on the course to dine on flying fish, macaroni pie, shrimp
cocktail and drank the finest champagne.
Woods, who is a follower of Buddhism, had
asked for a simple ceremony.
Woods spent the hours before the wedding
fishing, jet-skiing and snorkeling around the island.
"He didn't act like he was going to get
married," People Magazine quoted a source as saying. "He was very relaxed,
like this was any other day for him."
The 24-year-old Nordegren is the daughter of
a Swedish politician and she met Woods three years ago while working as a
nanny for Swedish golf Jesper Parnevik.
The couple has been dividing their time
between California and Florida.
Woods asked Nordegren to marry him 10 months
ago at a game reserve in South Africa.
Woods may be a happy groom but his golfing
career isn't so rosy as he has slipped to number three in the world rankings
for the first time in five years.
Woods just completed playing in the American
Express Championship in Thomastown, Ireland where he finished ninth.
Asked in Ireland about his upcoming wedding
plans, Woods would only say: "All I can say is that I'm getting married in the
future. I have narrowed it down to that. I think you guys would be the last
people I'd ever tell."
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