Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn, a former gold medal winner in the Winter Olympics, officially announced their relationship on Monday via Facebook.
Why would they choose to make such a move? If that were not enough, a professional photo gallery of them looking very happy in “couple poses” is now on Tiger’s website.
Could this be because of an incident from three years before, when Vonn was caught making jokes at Woods’ expense while he was on the initial part of his apology tour?
In comments recorded by Sean Gregory of Time, on the day Tiger held his first public formal apology for his 2009 sex scandal, Vonn poked fun at Tiger’s sex addiction and joked about how she wanted to parody him on Saturday Night Live.
Gregory also asked Vonn how she will deal with the media microscope in a post-Tiger world. She replied, “Well, I’m married, so I don’t have that problem but, um, I guess [Woods] is married too.”
Ironically, both sporting stars began divorce proceedings within the next two years.
Perhaps this newly pronounced couple decided to make a public statement in order to stay one-step ahead of the media doing it on their own.
In either case, the true question is can a man who has a clear history of infidelity and/or sex addiction be trusted to be monogamous?
Many believe that “once a cheater always a cheater,” while others say that it is possible.
The answer lies specifically with the individual man.
People can learn from their mistakes, change their behaviors, and make better choices. One of the amazing parts of humanity is the potential to grow and evolve into something better. However, when there is an addiction involved it takes time and professional help to make a real change. The person must come to terms with their addiction and heal the core issues to ensure their behavior follows suit.
Depending on the degree of personal growth Tiger has under his belt will determine whether he will stay faithful in his newly publicized relationship.
On the other hand of this story, many are wondering what makes a woman, in this case Vonn, to openly enter into a relationship clearly knowing what the man is capable of. Is it a career move, low self-esteem, incredible chemistry, or just old-fashioned love?
We can project and speculate all we want but in the end it is time that will tell.
Read more posts by Bree Maresca-Kramer, M.A., nationally recognized relationship expert, acclaimed relationship & life coach, talk radio show host, relationship expert & pop culture analyst columnist. Bree blogs for JenningsWire.
