Tiger Woods Scandal: Rachel Uchitel, a Hamptons Party Girl

Rachel Uchitel, a sometime club hostess, is a well-known party girl in the Hamptons, who has a reputation for pursuing celebrities. She is at the center of a supposed scandal that sent Tiger Woods – and his marriage – careening into the rough in an early Friday morning car crash.

Whether in fact Uchitel, 34, had a relationship with the all-time golfing great seems highly questionable. But the tabloid National Enquirer and its sister publication The Star have both reported that the two hooked up on several occasions while Swedish model wife Elin Nordegren was home minding the Woods’ two kids.

The Enquirer said it had multiple sources and polygraph tests to back up its reporting and has further details to release.

For her part, Uchitel denied having an affair. She told BlackBook magazine that the Enquirer twisted her words and used quotes from Ashley Samson, a woman who claimed to be her friend, to confirm the rumors.

“Rachel told me, ‘I’m having an affair with Tiger Woods. We’re in love!’ She even read me text messages Tiger sent her that said ‘I love you, babe. It’s always going to be just you and me. They were constantly sexting,” Samson was quoted as saying.

But Rachel denied the assertions. “I totally deny the Enquirer story. They did contact me about it, but they didn’t use any of my quotes or any of the information I gave them. They make it sound like I said those things, but it’s all other people saying I said things.”

Update: Rachel Uchitel Claims Tiger Woods Xmas Hookups; Click for More

Samson reportedly said that Uchitel and Woods were engaged in heavy sexting – sending racy text messages to each other – but she denied sending sexy messages.

“I don’t appreciate my name or what people think of me being dragged through the mud by people who don’t even bother to research what or who they’re talking about … they should research who these stories are coming from, who they’re believing as a credible source. Not to mention that it’s in the National Enquirer,” she said.

As for Sampson, Uchitel said: “We’re not friends. I’m just speculating but it seems like someone else is telling her what to say or manipulating her. After all, she got $25,000 for this.”

Uchitel has been described as a “bombshell” in previous reports about her club activities and was quoted at length in a story about Griffin, a Manhattan club where she worked for a time as a VIP hostess.

“I’ve worked for some of the best in the business at some of the best places between New York and Las Vegas,” she said about her experience on the club scene.

Uchitel said she worked at Hamptons watering hole Pink Elephant over the summer as a VIP hostess, according to her Facebook page.

As a hostess, she said she’s entertained such celebrities as Sting, Uma Thurman, Kate Hudson, Mickey Rourke, Nas, and lots of socialites and famous models, “like Rachel Zoe and Yigal Azourel.”

Most recently Uchitel was linked with married television actor David Boreanaz, who stars in the Fox hit show “Bones.”

The Enquirer reported that the actor was seeing Uchitel, even while wife Jaime Bergman was pregnant. She gave birth to daughter Bardot six weeks ago. Uchitel reportedly ended the relationship two weeks later.

While Uchitel has denied seeing Woods, she was in Australia at the same time and staying at the same hotel as Woods, while he won the Australian Masters in his first appearance in the country since 1998.

According to the latest update, Woods was reportedly fleeing his angry wife after a blow up at their Florida mansion over the tabloid reports.

He sped out of the driveway at 2:25 a.m. and hit a fire hydrant and drove into a tree, less than 50 feet down the road in front of a neighbor’s house.

Celebrity Web site TMZ.com reported that a source said Nordegren scratched Woods’ face after she went berserk and chased him with a golf club, striking his vehicle as he ran from the home. The Web site said the source talked to Woods after the smashup.

Nordegren reportedly told police she ran outside and discovered her husband bleeding from the mouth, with cuts on his lips, police said. She said she bashed out the rear window with the club and helped Woods out of the car.

Police arrived to find Woods, drifting in and out of consciousness, lying in the street with his wife watching over him. He was taken to a nearby hospital about 10 minutes later.

Police were expected to speak directly to Woods today, but said they would have no further statements until their investigation is finished.