National Enquirer publishes photo of Tiger Woods groping a woman in a parking lot

FILE- In this Nov,. 21, 2009, file photo, Tiger Woods, daughter Sam Woods and wife Elin Nordegren watch a football game in Stanford, Calif.  A new photo published by the National Enquirer could hurt Woods in a child custody dispute.  (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) 
 

The National Enquirer is publishing a photos of Tiger Woods groping an unidentified woman in a parking lot in California last year. One photo shows Woods embracing the woman, the other shows him getting into a black SUV with her.   The grainy photos were taken from a security camera.

Woods has been careful not to be photographed with his mistresses but he apparently wasn’t thinking about the parking lot security camera. 

It is unknown whether the woman in the photo was one of the alleged mistresses already named.    The low resolution of the photo makes it difficult to identify her.   She is dressed in light-colored dress and wearing knee-high dark boots.  She has light skin and  brown or black hair.

The Enquirer’s source said that Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren, had been told that he was in Las Vegas at a sports event.  He apparently ducked out to California during the trip.

Woods has admitted infidelity but the photos could be used by Nordegren to bolster her position in a divorce or child custody case against him, say experts.

Woods infidelity apparently began early in his relationship with Nordegren.  The Enquirer is reporting that a video showing Woods with another woman in California is being shopped around to TV networks for hundreds of thousands of dollars.  The video was shot while Woods was engaged to Nordegren.  It shows him in a convertible with a young woman in the passenger seat.   A source who has seen the video told the Enquirer the woman in the car is one of Woods' mistresses
 

The photos of Woods with the woman in a parking lot appear in the front right corner of the paper and in an inside two-page spread.   It is the January 11, 2010 issue of the magazine.   The Enquirer has a short article about the photos on its Web site but has not published the photos online.

Previous updates:

Tiger Woods voluntarily allowed Florida Highway Patrol troopers to inspect his upper body including his chest, back, hands, and arms, according to an exclusive report on Orlando station WESH-TV,  The troopers said there was no signs of domestic violence and that the only visible injury was a "fat lip" that they say was consistent with Woods hitting the steering wheel.  Click here for more details on the WESH story.

AT&T announced it is hanging up on Woods.  Click here for the company's statement and for information on other sponsors who have parted ways with Woods.

On a lighter note, a hilarious parody is generating a lot of buzz on YouTube.  Click here to watch "Wife of the Tiger."

Tiger Woods' alleged mistress Rachel Uchitel spoke briefly to a Florida television station,   She had the opportunity to deny that she is seeing Woods but instead said she wouldn't comment on the reports.  Some have suggested that she is intentionally feeding the rumors for attention and to keep herself associated with Woods.  Is she playing the press?  Click here for more details and to view the interview with her.

A widely circulated e-mail reports that Woods went to Arizona just after he was released from the hospital on the day of his crash.  The purpose of the Arizona trip was to be treated for facial injuries.   According to the e-mail, Woods' injuries were so severe that he required extensive plastic surgery in Arizona.  Woods' agent said the story wasn't true.  Veteran sportswriter Furman Bisher reported the story and said the information was given to him by a trustworthy colleague.  It is unclear whether the e-mail was the result of Bisher's story or if Bisher printed the story not knowing that he had been forwarded a viral e-mail.   Click here for more and for links to Bisher's Web site and his response to the controversy.

Meanwhile, the Woods scandal has been fodder for comics since day one.   Now, the scandal has been immortalized in Jib-Jab's annual look back to the year that was.  Near the end of the video, a cut out of Nordegren can be seen whacking Woods with a golf club.   It appears that the Tiger Woods scandal was a bit of an afterthought.   No doubt the video makers were well into production when Woods' November 27 accident happened.  Less famous scandals are given more prominence. Click here for more and to view the video.

A couple of UC Davis economists say the Tiger Woods mistress scandal may wind up costing  as much as $12 billion.   Click here for the story.

For more on the National Enquirer story, click here to do directly to the tabloid's online article.   The online story does not include the photographs of the woman ebracing Tiger Woods in the parking lot.  For that, you will have to visit your nearest supermarket.