Notorious ladies man Tiger Woods’ love game was sub-par even before all his trysts knocked his career off course.
A new book, titled Tiger Woods, reveals that the teen Tiger was also a cold-hearted creep. According to one former gal pal, fame didn’t send the young golfer off the rails. Dina Gravell recalled how Woods callously ditched her when she was just short of her 20th birthday.
The couple had been dating four years and Tiger sent her to the sidelines by sending Gravell’s suitcase to her parents’ hotel. A handwritten “Dear Joan” letter was attached. She was devastated; he had been her high school sweetheart in suburban Los Angeles.
“Dina packed her suitcase with enough clothing for a long weekend trip. The next day, after a short flight, she checked into a hotel room that Tiger had reserved for the two of them,” the authors’ reveal.
“Tiger, however, was preoccupied with his own situation. It was more of the same things he’d been talking about with Dina for months – his parents’ dysfunctional relationship, the pressure he was feeling.” She listened and the young couple spent the night together.
“The next day, Dina met up with her parents who had flown up from Southern California at the last minute to see her and Tiger,” according to the book. “It had been months since Dina had seen Tiger’s parents. When she approached them at the tournament, they turned away and walked off as if she weren’t there. They didn’t even acknowledge her.”
The book adds: “That evening she related the incident to Tiger. He downplayed it, insisting they probably just hadn’t seen her.” To this day, Gravell pinned the split on his overbearing parents who believed she was a distraction from his golf.
The pair started dating when she was just 15 and a year older than the future PGA superstar. Both were in the same accounting class. Gravell reveals in the book that she even put her own career plans on hold while Woods attended Stanford.
At that fateful tournament, her suitcase had been left with her parents and she had still not seen the future superstar who was at the hospital having his shoulder checked.
And there was a letter from Tiger: It read: “The reason for writing this letter is to inform you of my absolute anger and disappointment in you. Today, I heard from my parents that you were telling everyone in the gallery who would listen that you were ‘Tiger’s girlfriend’.”
Woods added: “My parents, Royce, Louisa, and myself never want to talk or hear from you again. Reflecting back over this relationship I feel used and manipulated by you and your family.” said Tiger.
Whatever path Tiger took led him down the road to success. Woods has won 14 majors, second all time, behind Jack Nicklaus. Woods is 14–1 when going into the final round of a major with at least a share of the lead. That’s impressive. Looks like it all worked out for the Tiger. Check out more of Tiger’s old flame below.
