Nordegren could receive up to $300 million (2.28 billion kronor) in a settlement, but the couple are said to be determined to keep the settlement confidential and leave the division of their properties out of any court filings, the report said.

Separately, Nordegren is “desperate to start a new life in Sweden” and determined to take the children with her, the US edition of OK! Magazine reported.

Nordegren is keen to return to Sweden permanently to raise Sam, 2, and Charlie, 15 months.

“She can establish residency with the kids in Sweden,” Joe Langlois, an L.A. celebrity lawyer, told OK!

“Elin is working around the clock to cut a custody deal that will allow her to permanently move herself and the kids to Sweden,” a source told the magazine. “Elin is fighting for sole custody. Tiger is having none of it. Elin just wants to shield her children from the scandal, not punish Tiger. Elin would never, ever stop him from seeing them.”

Separately, NBC’s Today show reported on Wednesday that the golf superstar’s marriage is all but over and there is “zero chance of reconciliation” between the two. According to a source, Nordegren is so certain that she won’t be taking up residence with Woods in their Florida home that she’s “rushing renovations on her house in Sweden. She plans on living there full time.”

The source added that the couple are only communicating through their lawyers.

“They’re only talking through lawyers right now and it’s only about the kids,” Today reported.

Discussions about custody are taking place without the divorce filing taking place, said the source, who emphasised that Nordegren is “100 percent filing,” just not yet.

The delay was a concession to Woods.

“Tiger begged her to wait until after The Masters,” Today reported the source as saying. “But she is over it, done. Nordegren’s sister and mother won’t forgive Tiger and have encouraged her to leave him, and are thrilled that she won’t be returning to the States to live permanently.”

Meanwhile, TMZ reported that Nordegren hired a London-based law firm in January where her sister Josefin works to represent her in a divorce, one and a half months after the scandal first broke.

According to a new book, Tiger: The Real Story, by People Magazine staff writer Steve Helling, Woods asked his future wife out five times before she accepted. Even then she wasn’t sure she wanted to go out with him.

“Elin Nordegren was not the type of young woman to date Tiger Woods, at least not at first,” wrote Helling. “For one thing, she had a boyfriend at home in Sweden. He was a normal, decent guy, driving a forklift in a warehouse. If things worked out with him, her life would be safe and predictable, an option that Elin actually found extremely appealing.”

The book went on to say, “Dating Tiger Woods would be just the opposite: paparazzi and tabloids would be around every corner and Elin couldn’t bear the thought of such an invasion of privacy. Besides, she really didn’t find Tiger attractive; he simply wasn’t her type.

“The challenge of the pursuit appealed to Tiger. The more Elin declined, the more insistent Tiger became. On his fifth request, Elin finally agreed to go out with him, but only for one date. She knew he would keep asking her out until she said yes, so this would be the easiest way to get him off her back.”

After a surprisingly low-key date of dinner and a movie, Nordegren was surprised to find that she liked the golfer, Helling wrote.

“For the first time, Elin didn’t feel that she was with a celebrity; she felt that she was out with a nice, normal guy,” wrote Helling. She was surprised to be falling for him so quickly.”