The 5 Most Expensive Divorces in Golf History
Golf superstar Tiger Woods had a particularly tumultuous divorce. While golf is a calm, serene sport, many of its top stars have gone through similar situations to Woods’. It’s enough to make one question whether golfers have a tendency toward difficult marriages.
That’s a tough statistic to pin down in an objective way. There is at least one study that attempts to get to the bottom of things, though.
According to Golf Support, 78% of golfer’s spouses rate their quality of marriage at five out of five. Meanwhile, among non-golfers polled, just 59% could say the same.
But that’s a golf retailer’s small-scale poll. And those are hobbyist golfers rather than professionals. When it comes to the big names in the PGA Tour, there have been some very expensive, fraught divorces. Here are five of the most expensive splits in the history of the sport.
Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren, $110 million
At $110 million, Woods’ divorce from model Elin Nordegren is the most expensive divorce in professional golf. It’s the second-most expensive divorce of all time in pro sports in general, actually. Greg Norman once had that dubious honor, but the final status of Woods’ acrimonious break has taken the top spot.
With a net worth of $1.1 billion, the massive sum is ultimately a small chunk of the five-time Masters winner’s wealth. Their 2010 divorce shattered Woods’ public image, revealing seedy antics like heavy alcohol use and infidelity.
Greg Norman and Laura Andrassy, $105 million
Norman’s first divorce was the one that rocked the golf world the most before Woods came along. His split from his first wife, Laura Andrassy, led to a whopping $105 million settlement. He is worth an estimated $400 million today.
The split came in 2006, after 25 years of marriage. The PGA legend left Andrassy for tennis player Chris Evert — who happened to be his wife’s best friend.
Lee Westwood and Laurae Westwood, $65 million
Lee Westwood has never won a major tournament. But he has topped the PGA Tour’s rankings and carved out a strong enough niche that he’s worth about $40 million today. He used to be worth quite a bit more than that, though.
His 2015 divorce from Laurae Westwood led to a $65 million settlement, thanks to — you guessed it — infidelity on Lee’s part. While that took a big chunk out of his earnings, his current girlfriend happens to be his caddie. And since making that change, he has been slowly climbing back up the rankings.
Colin Montgomerie and Eimear Wilson, $24 million
Colin Montgomerie’s 2006 divorce from Eimear Wilson cost him $24 million, according to the India Times. With a current net worth of an estimated $55 million, that settlement took a huge chunk out of the eight-time European Tour winner’s wealth.
The couple’s 16 years of marriage actually didn’t end due to infidelity. Instead, it turns out that those eight massive wins came at a huge cost. Wilson moved on because she felt her husband was consumed with golf, leaving little time for her.
Nick Faldo and Gill Bennett, $12 million
Montgomerie’s unique situation, unfortunately, remains an outlier on this list. Nick Faldo, accomplished golfer and longtime commentator, cheated on his second wife Gill Bennett. She received a $12 million settlement as a result of the 1995 divorce, according to Economic Times.
Faldo’s years as a golfer, and his work for CBS Sports and BBC Sports, have kept him wealthy nonetheless. His net worth is an estimated $60 million. Faldo has been married four times total, with multi-million dollar settlements resulting from each divorce.
