Dating Tiger Woods was just a practice round.
In an in-depth interview with the New York Times, Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn says she rushed into her multi-year romance with the once-scandalized golf great, calling their relationship a “learning experience” while managing to praise their time together.
Vonn and Woods dated for more than two years, from March 2013 until May 2015, when they announced a “mutual” breakup that was haunted by rumors of Woods lapsing back into his old cheating ways.
“Thomas was really my first boyfriend, so I didn’t have a lot of dating experience,” she said of ex-husband Thomas Vonn, whom she married in 2007 at the age of 22 and officially divorced in January 2013. “So jumping into a relationship right away after getting a divorce was probably not the smartest move on my part.
“I don’t regret anything. I loved Tiger, and I had an amazing three years with him. But it was a learning experience as well. With every relationship, you learn what you need and what you want in a partner.”
So what about that next partner? Vonn, 31, confirms she’s single and putting post-Tiger courtship on hold for the time being.
“I don’t have a boyfriend, and you need one of those to start a family,” she told the Times. “I really want a family; I come from a big family. But I’m not going to force anything. I have a limited window to accomplish my ski-racing dreams, so I don’t want to give that up for really anything.”
The two-time Olympic medalist’s bid for skiing history resumes on the World Cup circuit Nov. 28 in Aspen, after several years ruined by devastating knee and ankle injuries. Vonn is considered the favorite to capture the overall title, with her two chief rivals — Anna Fenninger and Tina Maze — missing this winter season, and has targeted the 2018 Games in South Korea to go for gold once again.