but in the end they had to agree to split.
Speaking about the parade of women who claimed to have had affairs with her husband, she said: 'I felt stupid as more things were revealed. How could I not have known anything? The word "betrayal" isn't strong enough. I felt like my whole world had fallen apart.
'I felt embarrassed for having been so deceived. I felt betrayed by many people around me. Initially, I thought we had a chance, and we tried really hard.'
In what she described as her first and last interview, Elin, whose divorce from Woods was finalised, also said she has started to come to terms with her situation. She said: 'I have been through the stages of disbelief and shock, to anger and ultimately grief over the loss of the family I so badly wanted for my children. I also feel stronger than I ever have. I have confidence in my beliefs, my decisions and myself.'
In the People interview Nordegren denied that she and Woods had been fighting on the night he crashed his car outside their Florida home. She emphatically denied hitting Woods with a golf club or chasing after him before he crashed his Lincoln Escalade 4x4.
'There was never any violence inside or outside our home,' she said. 'The speculation that I would have used a golf club to hit him is just truly ridiculous.' The car crash led to the stories of his multiple affairs being made public by his many mistresses.
Nordegren did not reveal how much her divorce settlement was worth but tellingly added: 'Money doesn't make you happy. ... But I have to be honest: It is making some things easier. I have the opportunity to be with my children as much as I want.'
She also credits her children, three-year-old Sam and 19-month-old Charlie, with getting her through the past nine months.
'Just having them around, hugging me, kissing me, gives me the strength to get through every day," she said. Betsy Gleick, executive editor of People magazine said on US TV that Nordegren was 'not in denial'.
'She is a private person. She's been reluctant to speak until now,' Gleick said.
'She says, she's just been through the hardest thing she's ever been through in her life, but that she has survived. What she wanted most of all was to keep her marriage together, but once she realised that she couldn't do that, she still wants there to be two happy parents involved in their children's lives.'
Gleick added that Nordegren wanted to do the interview with People to clarify that she didn't know what was going on with Woods.
'She says she was embarrassed that she didn't know what was going on,' Gleick said on the CBS Early Show. 'But she was at home, having babies and taking care of the babies. She says she had no idea.'
Elin said she has 'been through hell' over the past nine months, and has suffered hair loss, insomnia and weight loss since reports about Tiger's affairs first came to light. She said: 'It's hard to think you have this life, and then all of a sudden - was it a lie? You're struggling because it wasn't real. But I survived. It was hard, but it didn't kill me.'
Elin, who has two children, Sam, three, and 19-month-old Charlie with Tiger, is currently studying for a degree in psychology, but says her education isn't as important as ensuring her family is properly 'healed.'
Asked about her plans for the future, Elin explained: 'My immediate plan is for the kids and me to continue to adjust to our new situation.I am going to keep taking classes, but my main focus is to try to give myself time to heal. Forgiveness takes time. It is the last step of the grieving process.'
Asked about any potential romance in the future, she said: 'It's going to be just me and the kids for a little while, but I believe in love, because I've seen it. I've been there.'
However, Elin said felt 'privileged' to have witnessed Woods' golfing career, adding: 'I wish him all the best in the future, as a person and as an athlete. I know he is going to go down as the best golfer that ever lived, and rightfully so. I feel privileged to have witnessed a part of his golfing career.'