Tiger Woods' wife laid texting trap

Tiger Woods' extraordinary private life began to unravel when his wife began texting his alleged mistress while pretending to be him, it was alleged yesterday.

The Daily Beast website reported that Woods had convinced his wife, Elin Nordegren, to talk on the phone with Rachel Uchitel, a 35-year-old nightclub hostess, in an attempt to convince her that rumours were untrue.

However, the next day, after Woods had taken a sedative and fallen asleep, Ms Nordegren texted Ms Uchitel pretending to be Woods - and received replies that suggested an illicit liaison.

She then woke the golfer and chased him out of their house with a golf club. Woods, still in a stupor from his sleeping pill, got in his car and crashed it in the street.

The argument sparked one of the biggest celebrity stories of the decade, with claims later emerging that Woods had liaisons with more than a dozen women.

However, it was reported yesterday that Ms Nordegren, 30, would not be seeking a divorce after visiting Woods in "sex rehabilitation clinic" in Mississippi last week, deciding to save the marriage for the sake of their two children.

According to sources who spoke to the Daily Beast, Woods warned his wife in the run-up to the incident on November 26 that the National Enquirer magazine was about to run a story claiming he had had an affair with Ms Uchitel.

He swore to Ms Nordegren that the story was false and that he had met Ms Uchitel only a couple of times at social outings.

On November 25, Woods convinced Ms Uchitel to talk to Ms Nordegren on the phone and, according to the Daily Beast's source, Ms Nordegren was satisfied that the relationship was platonic.

However, the next day the couple argued over allegations in the Enquirer article that had been leaked on the internet. Woods took Ambien, a sedative, to go to sleep.

His wife found texts on his phone to Ms Uchitel, one of which allegedly read: "You are the only one I've loved." Ms Nordegren texted Ms Uchitel, pretending to be Woods, the sources allege. Ms Nordegren wrote, "I miss you", and asked, "When are we seeing each other again?"

Ms Uchitel texted back, after which Ms Nordegren called her. According to the Beast's source, Ms Uchitel realised what had happened, uttered the words "Oh f***", and then hung up.

At this point, the source said, Ms Nordegren screamed at Woods, who awoke disoriented.

She grabbed his cellphone when he came out after locking himself in the toilet for several minutes, allegedly texting Ms Uchitel.

Woods ran to his car, then drove into a fire hydrant and smashed into a tree.

Aside from being banned from sex, Woods is also said to have been forbidden from playing golf while at the "sex rehabilitation clinic".