New York, Dec 21 (ANI): Tiger Woods’ close pals reportedly knew about his numerous mistresses but kept quiet.

Some of Woods’ friends even told him that he ought to be careful, as he was playing with fire and his hands might get burnt.

However, the golfer over-looked this sane advice and continued with his affairs, without a thought.

“A lot of us who love him saw this coming,” the New York Daily News quoted a friend who’s known Tiger since he was 18 as saying.

“We said, ‘You’ve got to be careful. It’s really getting too raggedy.’ In his own mind, he may not have thought he was doing anything wrong,” the friend said.

“He was under a lot of pressure. He thought he was just letting off steam. He thought of it as a perk,” the friend added.

High-school pal Byron Bell, who is the President of Tiger Woods Design, was one of the people who perhaps knew most of the details, but till date he has never ditched his friend, even on one instance, according to multiple sources.

Bell often used to see to the logistics angle of Woods trysts with his mistress.

He is said to be the ‘middle-man’ for Woods as he helped oversee all the arrangements for his mistress visits.

Sources said that he even contacted the Madam Michelle Braun to set up ‘introductory sessions’ between her models and the ace golfer.

He said that aside from Bell, Woods’ closest friends are former Stanford teammate Jerry Chang and post-college pal D.J. Hanlon.

After the scandal exploded, all three friends have maintained the code of silence that has long characterized their relationship with Woods. (ANI)