Tiger 'betrayed' over engagement news

Tiger Woods said today he was betrayed by the founder of a South African game reserve who revealed that the world’s top golfer was engaged.

Woods proposed to his Swedish girlfriend, model Elin Nordegren, at the Shamwari Game Reserve last week.

But Woods today accused Adrian Gardiner of breaking a vow of silence over the engagement.

Woods also claimed that Gardiner had him and Ms Nordegren “detained in a holding cell” at an airport so he could take photographs of the couple before they left the country.

The golfer wrote on his web site: “I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to South Africa for the Presidents Cup, with one exception: I was betrayed by Adrian Gardiner, founder of the Shamwari Game Reserve.

“He promised to protect my privacy during a four-day stay with friends but went back on his word, not only alerting the newspapers about my engagement to Elin Nordegren, but inviting the mayor and local school children to the airport when we departed.

“Even worse, he took pictures at the reserve to promote his web site, and had us detained in a holding cell at the airport so we would pose for more photos with the mayor.

“Saying we were uncomfortable and totally shocked is an understatement.”

The couple were at the 20,000-acre reserve, outside Port Elizabeth, after Woods played in the tournament at Fancourt, which ended on November 23.

Shamwari reserve issued a statement last Friday describing how Woods proposed to his girlfriend.

It told how “Woods and Nordegren walked away into the bush” where he proposed and added that when she left she was “sporting a huge diamond on her finger”.

Woods, 27, and Nordegren, 23, have been together for nearly two years. They met when she was working in Florida as a nanny for Swedish golfer Jesper Parnevik.

A wedding date has not yet been set but the couple are expected to marry in her homeland, according to Nordegren’s father, a Washington-based Swedish radio correspondent.

No-one was immediately available at the game reserve to comment on Woods’ claims.