London, Dec 19 (ANI): It has emerged that professional golfer Tiger Woods’ representatives brokered a deal two years ago to bury a tabloid story of an extramarital affair.

According to the Wall Street Journal, reps for Woods acted after the National Enquirer threatened to publish pictures of Woods taken in a parked car with Mindy Lawton, a Florida waitress.

The Wall Street Journal claims the alleged deal had been made in August 2007, and according to it, Woods had to give an exclusive cover interview and photo spread to the National Enquirer’s sister magazine, Men’s Fitness.

This is the second time that such a claim has been made, the first being a similar story published by the New York Post earlier this month.

But American Media, owner of the Enquirer and Men’s Fitness, said descriptions of such a deal were “inaccurate, false” and “misinformed”.

It claimed the interview, headlined Tiger!, in which a beaming Woods appeared on the cover, was a result of the golfer’s previous link with the interviewer, Roy Johnson.

But Neal Boulton, former editor in chief of Men’s Fitness at the time of the alleged deal, fuelled further speculation after claiming that he left his post because of the incident.

“[American Media CEO] David Pecker knew about Tiger Woods’ infidelity a long time ago … He traded silence for a Men’s Fitness cover,” the Guardian quoted Boulton as having told the New York Post. (ANI)