It's over: Tiger and Elin spit for good

NINE months after their private lives crashed into public view, Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren have announced that their divorce is final.

In a joint statement released by their lawyers, the couple said: "We are sad that our marriage is over and we wish each other the very best for the future. While we are no longer married, we are the parents of two wonderful children and their happiness has been, and always will be, of paramount importance to both of us."

The details of the settlement were not disclosed but reports suggest Elin, could receive up to $500 million in one of the most expensive divorce settlements in history.

Tiger, one of the world's leading golfers, who confessed to a series of affairs that destroyed his image as a virtuous role model, will share custody of his children, Sam Alexis, three, and Charlie Axel, one, with their Swedish mother Elin.

Lawyers for the pair said that their divorce became final yesterday when a judgment was entered in Bay County Circuit Court, near the Florida state capital of Tallahassee.

It was 320km away that Woods crashed his Cadillac SUV into a fire hydrant while driving away from his home near Orlando in the early hours of November 27 last year.

Tiger initially said the reasons for the accident were private "and I want to keep it that way". However, in the prolonged media storm that followed at least 12 women came forward claiming to be current or former lovers of the golfer, among them a New York nightclub hostess, two porn actresses, two waitresses and a lingerie model.

One of the women, Rachel Uchitel, has since received $10 million in a deal brokered by the Los Angeles celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred, apparently in return for her silence.

Early in the saga that took Tiger out of professional golf for five months, it emerged that Elin had bought a house without him on a Swedish island accessible only by ferry or private boat.

Tiger agreed to have treatment for sex addiction at a clinic in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, earlier this year, when American tabloid newspapers reported that a reconciliation with Elin was on the cards.

His decision to return to golf in April is thought to have persuaded her, however, that he was not serious enough about spending more time with his family. His first press conference after the scandal was widely mocked for his maudlin scripted apologies to family and fans.

Tiger is now struggling to return to his level of achievement prior to the scandal, and has been winless on the golf course this year.