Tiger Woods' Late Mom Chose A Clear Side In His Messy Divorce From Elin Nordegren

Tiger Woods announced on February 4 that his mother, Kultida Woods, has died. "My Mom was a force of nature all her own, her spirit was simply undeniable," the golfer wrote in a statement posted to Instagram. It was that attitude that earned Kultida the nickname "The Enforcer" from her son, so it should not be surprising to fans that after Tiger's cheating scandal broke, his mother was very hard on him.

When reports surfaced that Tiger had been cheating on then-wife Elin Nordegren, there was also news about how his mom took the news. "[Kultida is] hurt, angry and disappointed in Tiger," a family friend told People in December 2009. "She wants to know how he could do this to his family. The truth about Tiger's mom was that she was as upset with her son about the cheating as Nordegren was. This info came not only from anonymous sources, but from Tiger himself. "They both have been brutal. They've both been very tough," he said of both his mother and then-wife in a March 2010 interview with ESPN. Tiger added that it was "very painful" coming clean about his infidelities to the two most important women in his life.

Kultida may have been disappointed by her son's transgressions, but she stood by his side when Tiger made a public apology for cheating on his wife in February 2010. Recalling that moment to reporters afterward, she told them, "I said, 'I'm so proud of you. Never think you stand alone. Mom will always be there for you and I love you," per CBS News. She offered support in a time of need, but learning more about Kultida shows why she was so tough on her son when the cheating scandal first came to light. 

Perhaps part of the reason Kultida Woods was quick to side with Tiger Woods' wife when the cheating allegations emerged was because she had seen such behavior before. According to an old high school girlfriend of Tiger's, the untold truth about his dad, Earl Woods, was that he cheated on Kultida. Dina Parr, who dated Tiger when the pair were teens, spoke to E! News in April 2018 about Earl's alleged cheating. "[Tiger] would just call crying and say, 'My dad is with another woman,'" Parr said. However, coping with being cheated on herself wasn't the only reason Kultida was harsh on her son for stepping out with other women.

Between Tiger's parents, it was Kultida who was the disciplinarian. "My mom's still here and I'm still deathly afraid of her," he told USA Today in March 2017, over a decade after his father's death. That interview was to promote his book "The 1997 Masters: My Story," which provides more insight into his relationship with Kultida. "As we said in our family, my mom was the hand, and my dad was the voice," Tiger writes. "There was no middle ground with Mom."

An example of how tough Kultida was on her son was shared by Tiger when he spoke to a group of junior golfers in December 2022. While reminiscing about his dominance as a young golfer, he joked that his "life peaked" when he was a tween. "By the time I had turned 12, when I was 11, my mom made me donate all my trophies because I won 113," Tiger said at the event hosted by TaylorMade Golf.