Golf superstar Tiger Woods and Olympic skiing champion Lindsey Vonn have been the talk of the sports world since early in the year, when the two were rumored, and later confirmed, to be dating.
And it appears that their new romantic relationship has been having benefits for both of them, particularly for Vonn's popularity on the internet.
Putting aside the bit of bad luck that Vonn had when she tore her ACL in February during the world skiing championships, things have been looking up for both star athletes. After his highly-publicized fall from grace following the November 2009 car crash and allegations of extramarital infidelity, Woods has returned to form on the greens in golf this year.
Earning the No.1 ranking in the world once again, Woods has won four of the five tournaments he's played this year, the crown jewel being his victory in the Players Championship last week, only his second-ever Players title, as Vonn visited TPC Sawgrass in Florida to cheer her boyfriend on.
While the two have been relatively quiet about their relationship, the two have become a lightning rod for media attention since they officially confirmed their relationship on Facebook in March. On Vonn's Facebook page, the post where she made the rumors about her and Woods dating official garnered more than 17,000 likes and 4,800 comments, as well as more than 2,000 shares.
The two have been in the public eye a lot more these days, both Vonn and Woods attending the Met Gala event earlier this month. And recently, Woods and Vonn were photographed aboard his yacht, Woods shirtless while Vonn sported a bikini.
Vonn's popularity was at an all-time high in February 2010 during the Vancouver Winter Olympics, where she competed in all five women's events, winning the gold on the downhill-becoming the first-ever American female to do so.
Since that time, though, as Google Trends indicates, her online popularity tapered off, rising and falling at a sporadic rate.
However, since word of her relationship with Woods has broken out this year, there has been a notable spike that Vonn has received thanks to her love life becoming a topic of attention. Aside from the crash, the hottest topics related to Vonn have all been about her romance with Woods.
When Woods won the Players title this week on May 12, Vonn's Google number peaked at 100 on that date.
With the added attention that Vonn is getting, parlayed with her recovery for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games next February in Sochi which will receive a blitz of media attention, this could open the doorway for sponsorship opportunities for Vonn, already considered a sex symbol in her sport.