In Sweden, anger at Woods but pride over wife
December 15, 2009
STOCKHOLM (AP)—During the good times, Tiger Woods could find a perfect getawayin Sweden—a quiet and secluded place to avoid the media spotlight.
There have been Christmas celebrations in a remote area of northern Swedenin a house owned by relatives of his Swedish wife, Elin Nordegren. There havebeen summer days spent undisturbed in the couple’s luxury apartment in centralStockholm. And his wife recently purchased a secluded house on an island in thearchipelago, a short boat ride outside the capital.
But if Woods is looking for somewhere to ride out the media stormsurrounding his infidelity, Sweden may no longer be the place to go.
“I think his reception would be rather chilly,” said Billy McCormac, anAmerican who has lived in Sweden for 14 years and heads the prominent think tankTimbro. “I think things are just too raw right now.”
The Woods sex scandal has indeed struck a particularly raw nerve in Sweden,where Nordegren’s transition from being a nanny for golfer Jesper Parnevik tothe wife of one of the world’s most famous athletes was long seen as afairy-tale romance.
Over the last five years, sightings of the couple on the streets ofStockholm or in nearby Vaxholm in the archipelago—where Nordegren grew up—helped create a sense of connection to a man renowned for his reclusive persona.
But like the drop in temperatures that brought a blizzard of snow over theScandinavian country on Tuesday, Woods’ admitted betrayal of his wife has turnedpublic opinion considerably cooler.
“We have taken him to heart and almost viewed him like one of us,” saidNiklas Olovzon, a sponsorship and brand expert who heads the communicationsagency S&B. “Of course that has made this a much bigger deal. … I don’t thinkwe’ll forgive him as quickly.”
Instead, there is an outpouring of sympathy and support for Nordegren, whohas claims to fame in Sweden beyond her marriage to Woods. Nordegren’s mother,Barbro Holmberg, is a well-known Social Democratic politician and formermigration minister while her father Thomas Nordegren is a prominent radiojournalist.
“She comes from two sort of Swedish houses of nobility, so there is a sensethat this is personal,” McCormac said. “I’m not sure how much the Swedishpublic embraced Elin before this. But now, that sense of ownership and thatsense of communion with her has gotten stronger.”
That’s been evident in the country’s newspapers during the last few weeks,where the numerous front-page headlines and articles have focused as much onNordegren as on Woods.
There has been constant speculation about whether she’ll stay with herhusband, advice about how to repair her marriage, and jokes about why she used agolf club to smash the back passenger windows of Woods’ SUV the night of hisinfamous car crash outside their home in Florida. Local police said his wifetold them she did it to help get her husband out.
In a country that prides itself on gender equality and independent women,the image of a golf club-wielding Nordegren is a source of widespreadsatisfaction.
“For us, it was almost a positive thing that she smashed the car window,”Olovzon said. “We like strong women in a lot of ways.”
Britta Svensson, a columnist in the newspaper Expressen, summed it up likethis:
“A week ago, Tiger and Elin were the cutest couple on the globe,” Svenssonwrote shortly after the reports of numerous mistresses started seeping out.“Now our Swedish hearts are brimming with pride that our own Elin—not aregular nanny but the daughter of a Social Democratic minister and Swedish Radiojournalist—didn’t take any … Elin is our heroine.”
The same can no longer be said of Woods, of course, regardless of golf’simmense popularity in the country.
Despite its short summers, Sweden has nearly half a million golfers in apopulation of little more than 9 million, including a number of top pros likeHenrik Stenson.
But to win the fans back, Woods has to get back on the course and win moretitles, said Tommy Jeppsson, the editor of the Swedish version of Golf Digest.
“Time has an incredible ability to heal things like this,” said Jeppsson,pointing out that a number of famous men have been able to resuscitate theircareers after sex scandals. “When you think about (actor) Hugh Grant today, youonly view his scandal as a bump in the road—he didn’t drive off a cliff. Ithink this will be a bump in the road for Tiger Woods as well.”
Seeing Woods play in a tournament like the Scandinavian Masters has longbeen a dream for Swedish golf fans. If Woods does decide to end his indefinitebreak from golf, Jeppsson said that’s not likely to change.
“He would be very welcome,” Jeppsson said. “I don’t think anyone wouldmiss seeing Tiger Woods play golf just because they’re a bit peeved about whathe’s alleged to have done.”
But, as McCormac pointed out, Woods may not want to test his welcome toosoon.
“I think the media circus needs to die down first,” McCormac said. “Maybein six months, or, say, around the summer time. (Swedes) are very used towalking down the street, and say, ‘Oh, there’s the prime minister,’ or ‘There’sthat rock star.’ Given a bit of time, given a bit of space, I’d say even (Tigerand Elin) will be able to do that eventually.”
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