How the Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren Scandal — and his Mother-in-Law’s Hospitalization plays in Sweden

  The Tiger Woods saga took an unexpected turn yesterday when Woods’ mother-in-law, Barbro Holmberg, was rushed to a Florida hospital with stomach pains. Holmberg had flown from her home in Sweden to visit her daughter, Elin Nordegren,  in the wake of allegations of Woods’ extramarital affairs. (On his Web site Woods said only that “I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart.”) Holmberg is the governor of Gävleborg County, and until 2006 was a cabinet member in the Swedish government. Nordegren’s father, Thomas Nordegren, is a well-known Swedish journalist who once worked as a foreign correspondent for Swedish National Radio in Washington, D.C.

Holmberg’s hospitalization — she was treated and released yesterday afternoon — has made the Woods scandal hit home all the more in Sweden. Elin was born in Stockholm, and her family is a prominent one. The hospitalization of his mother-in-law was front-page news in the largest newspapers in Sweden–the two evening papers Aftonbladet and Expressen as well as the daily newspaper DagensNyheter. In some articles, Elin has been held up almost as a folk hero for standing up for herself.

A survey of some of the recent Swedish-language coverage:

Arbetarbladet, Dec. 9: In a story with the headline “Holmberg to hospital,” this social democratic newspaper, published in Gävle, looks at the fact that Holmberg, who had been appointed by the Swedish government to deal with mass layoffs by Stockholm-based wireless equipment maker Ericsson, is now in the U.S. and unable to deal with the problem.

Expressen, Dec. 8: One article in this major evening paper quotes Anna Anka, the wife of Paul Anka, whose tumultuous marriage has been in the Swedish papers a lot. Anna Anka, who grew up in Sweden, is reportedly advising Tiger’s wife: “Take the money and kick him in the butt. You don’t need him. He’s a pig. Get yourself another millionaire.”

Aftonbladet, Dec. 4: The Stockholm evening paper talked to Elin Nordegren’s old school buddies. “She is a very good girl. He has a lot to lose,” says one of them. “She is a tough girl–and confident. She has thick skin,” says another.

Aftonbladet, Dec. 4: Opinion columnist Ann Soderlund praises Elin: “She refused to be treated like sh–. And that my friends, makes me thank God for girls like Elin. Hallelujah!” She also writes “The rest of the planet also roots for ‘Team Elin’ right now. It’s as if we in true hippie spirit feel that this girl doesn’t deserve to be humiliated like this….She, who unlike so many other ’soccer wives’ never has tried to be seen, heard or otherwise profited from her husband’s celebrity status.”

Expressen, Dec. 3: In an article under the headline “Elin’s difficult choice no matter what she does,” the paper wrote “Swedish hearts are full of pride over our own Elin, not a regular au pair but a daughter of a Social-Democratic minister and a national broadcast journalist, did not take any sh–. Exactly as a Swedish girl with a spine shall do, Elin is our hero.”