Why Tiger Woods Paid Off His Mistress

Tiger Woods agreed to pay off his mistress Rachel Uchitel after a secret phone call when she assured the golfer that she didn't leak the story of their affair, RadarOnline.com has learned.

After news of Tiger's cheating emerged after his Nov. 27 car crash, the dad-of-two came to believe that Rachel, 34, posed the biggest problem for him.

The pair had been having an affair for the past five months and the National Enquirer broke the story shortly before his accident.

While Uchitel vehemently denied the report publicly, RadarOnline.com says it has learned that his lawyers and reps believe she had leaked the story of their affair.

But in a secret phone call, Uchitel convinced Tiger that she had nothing to do with the publication of the story.

Once source close to the situation told the Web site, "She told Tiger, 'I didn't talk.'" Tiger believed her.

But once Uchitel hired power attorney Gloria Allred, it suggested the nightclub hostess would try and make a deal with Tiger or sell her story to the highest bidder.

Tiger knew he could no longer count on Uchitel to remain loyal and he made the decision to pay her, the Web site says.

RadarOnline.com reported that Uchitel is collecting from $1 million to $3 million.

She allegedly has hundreds of explicit text messages and emails from Tiger, all of which make it clear that they were involved in a sexual relationship.

Tiger was more concerned about silencing Uchitel than any of the other women, because their relationship was current and intense.