Sponsor 'stands with Tiger' amid new cheating reports

Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer showed support for embattled Tiger Woods on its website on Tuesday, even as a new report emerged that Woods and Rachel Uchitel have resumed their relationship.

Four days after Tag Heuer announced it was pulling images of Woods from US advertising in the wake of the sex scandal that has swirled around him, the watchmaker appears to have decided the time was right to back Woods.

Tag Heuer’s website home page has a huge photograph of Woods with the words “Tag Heuer stands with Tiger Woods” and a link to a news release from last week saying the ad pullback was a supportive move since Woods has announced an indefinite hiatus from golf to work on his personal issues.

The move mirrors one made earlier by razor manufacturer Gillette but falls short of the full sponsorship cut made by consulting giant Accenture.

Woods has admitted cheating on wife Elin while at least 14 women have claimed to have had affairs with him.

Elin has reportedly hired a Hollywood divorce attorney with possible losses for Woods, a 14-time Major champion, in a divorce deal including estimates of more than $300-million.

His estranged wife is also seeking custody of their children, two-year-old daughter Sam and 10-month-old son Charlie.

In Touch magazine reported on its website on Tuesday that Woods, who turns 34 next week, has been seeing Uchitel (34) in Florida near where his yacht, Privacy, is docked.

The magazine, quoting an unnamed friend of Uchitel, reported Woods is still involved in a sexual relationship with Uchitel, a New York showclub host who was in the same Australia hotel as Woods when he was there for an event last month.

“They have been sleeping together the entire time since the scandal broke,” the source told In Touch. “They hooked up in a condo she has been staying at in Palm Beach.”

“She’s madly in love with him and she believes that he loves her as well,” the source told In Touch.

It was a tabloid report about Uchitel’s relationship with Woods two days before the crash that set the stage for the firestorm that has followed.

Uchitel had called a news conference earlier this month but cancelled, reportedly after being paid more than $1-million by Woods for her silence.—Sapa-AFP