Tiger Woods Calls Elin Nordegren 'One of My Best Friends'

— -- Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren endured a very public split five years ago.

However, today their relationship is not as strained as it once was.

"Having the relationship that I have now with her is fantastic. She’s one of my best friends," he told Time magazine. "We’re able to pick up the phone, and we talk to each other all the time. We both know that the most important things in our lives are our kids. I wish I would have known that back then."

In late 2009, Woods, now 39, confessed to being unfaithful to Nordegren, whom he married in 2004. The couple divorced the next year. And while he admitted that fixing their marriage would have been "too tough," the golfer said that he's been open with their two children, Sam, 8, and Charlie, 6, about why he and Nordegren split.

"I’ve taken the initiative with the kids, and told them up front, 'Guys, the reason why we’re not in the same house, why we don’t live under the same roof, Mommy and Daddy, is because Daddy made some mistakes,'" he said. "I just want them to understand before they get to Internet age and they log on to something or have their friends tell them something. I want it to come from me so that when they come of age, I’ll just tell them the real story."

Woods, who is currently recovering from a back injury, said that his children have re-shaped his priorities. Golfing is no longer the most important thing in his life.

"Now to watch my kids and play sports and to grow up and participate, and even teach them how to become better, oh my God, it gives me so much joy. I can’t imagine not being able to do that as I get older," he said. "My kids are more important to me than anything else in the world."