Elin Nordegren may have had a very difficult public divorce in 2010 from golf star Tiger Woods, but that doesn’t mean she’s shying away from the new woman in Tiger’s life.

The stunning Swedish model has reportedly become close with Olympic skiier Lindsey Vonn after initially wanting to meet her for practical reasons: because Vonn would be around the children she shares with Woods.

“After meeting her, she found she actually liked her,” a source said recently. “You’d think it would be weird, but Elin loves Lindsey and they talk all the time. Elin likes that Lindsey is a strong woman.”

Now this is an unexpected duo! It turns out Lindsey Vonn is close friends with Tiger Woods' ex Elin Nordegren: http://t.co/P5GZeExvtk

— Us Weekly (@usweekly) April 22, 2014

Nordegren and Woods split after it was revealed that he had been unfaithful with several different women, but that hasn’t deterred Vonn. The couple announced that they were an item early last year and have been inseparable ever since, with Vonn saying that Woods has helped her immensely as she goes through rehab for a knee injury that kept her out of the Sochi Olympics.

“He’s helped me stay patient through rehab,” she said in a recent interview. “Golf is all about patience. One tournament is four days long, 18 holes a day. He helped me take it one day at a time. I’d say, ‘Why can’t I do this? I want to.’ And he’d say, ‘You’ll get your chance. It will come.’ We’re good for each other. I don’t know what he’s learned from me, to be honest. But we push each other and help each other when we’re down.”

The news of these ladies starting up a friendship is all the more surprising because of rumors that made the rounds on the web last year; according to several “sources”, Nordegren “hated” Vonn when it was first announced that she was dating Woods.

Image via Wikimedia Commons