'Tiger Woods was shy as a teenager,' says first girlfriend

Tiger Woods' first girlfriend has opened up about her relationship with the troubled golfer, saying he used to be a shy guy. Dina Gravell (now Gravell-Parr) and Woods fell for each other in high school.

"We were each other's first real boyfriend and girlfriend," the New York Post quoted Gravell, as saying. "It was fire and flames. We were in teenage love."

The duo - Gravell, then 17, and Woods, then 16 - first came to know each other in 1992 while they attended an ac counting class at Western HS in Ana heim, Calif.

Gravell recalled: "It wasn't love at first sight. It wasn't a physical thing." However, as weeks passed the two came closer. Woods took the first step when he asked her to go to a movie.

Talking about how that evening ended Gravell said: "At the end of the night I had to ask him: 'Well, was that a date?' He was all shy and embarrassed.... As we said goodbye, it was really awkward. You could tell he didn't know whether to lunge for a kiss or not. So we had a hug instead."

Soon enough the lovebirds were exchanging love notes in class. Gravell's family received woods warmly and her place became their first lovenest. Gravell said: "We would wait for my parents to go to bed and then make out on the sofa in front of the television for hours.

"We were first boyfriend and girlfriend in all sense of the word." However, things changed as Woods left in 1994 to enrol in Stanford University, while Gravell attended a community college closer home. They sent each other love letters and even talked about tying the knot but distance took its toll.

Gravell said: "I was never jealous but Tiger was a little. He'd ask me what I was up to when he was gone. I never cheated on him, though. "It was college. He was a golfer. I don't flatter myself that he was faithful to me."And then Woods ended the three-year-old relationship.

Gravell recollected: "He said my parents are very concerned that you're a big distraction for me, and I have to listen to them. We have to break up.... I felt I was punched in the stomach."But only two days later, Woods called wanting reconciliation.

She said: "He said he was sad and didn't want to live without me."Woods tried some more but it was over. Gravell said: "It was so cruel.... It was so sad. We were so close. And just like that, it was over."

Gravell has now been married to businessman Keith Parr for 12 years. They are parents to three children and live in the Santa Ana Mountains of California.

And when she heard that Woods cheated on his wife, Elin Nordegren, she said: "I always hear, 'That could have been you.' And I say, 'Thank God, it's not,'.... A family is not happy because of money, a family is happy because of love and respect. I know my husband loves me and would never hurt me, and that is more important than all the money in the world."