Lindsey Vonn and Tiger Woods Relationship Confirmed By Friends >>Hollywood

It was the private plane loan heard 'round the world.

After Lindsey Vonn suffered a devastating injury and was airlifted to a hospital at the Alpine World Championships in Austria, she got a lift from Tiger Woods.

Walking on crutches after tearing two ligaments in her right knee and fracturing her shin, the skier hopped aboard the golf legend's private jet.

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Is was a clear sign that the rumors of Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn dating are true, and now sources close to the pair are confirming it as well.

Says one close source:

"Tiger and Lindsey have been friends for a while, and nothing started out romantically at all. But they really have a lot in common and got closer and closer."

"He still refers to her as 'my very good friend,' but he's been spending more and more time thinking about her, and talking to her, and talking about her."

Last month, Vonn's reps tried to deflect the rumors, saying her "focus is solely on competing and on defending her titles" but offering no denials.

But another source says Tiger Woods, 37, and Lindsey Vonn, 28, talk and text frequently and while they're taking it slow, it's definitely romantic:

"Tiger really does want a woman who he can have good conversations with. He wants shared interests and outlooks. He is finding that with [Lindsey]."

Woods, of course, made international headlines in 2009 when he was linked to dozens of women while still married to his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren.

Since then, he has dated sporadically, and struggled to find his golf game as well as someone who wanted a relationship for the right reasons.

"She's not freaked out by his past," says the source.

"That really appeals to him. He really does deserve to be happy. He has been flogging himself for three years, and it's good to see him moving forward."

Presumably the source means metaphorically.

In any case, Woods has been feeling it on the golf course lately, so 2013 could mark quite the personal and professional turnaround for Tiger.

Especially with Lindsey on the shelf and recovering from