London, Jan 5 (IANS) Rare pictures of fallen golfer Tiger Woods' semi-naked and toned body have appeared on the cover of a magazine, taken just before his scandals were exposed, reports The Sun.

Woods, who sports a black beanie hat in the picture, stares moodily at the camera while clutching weights in the photo by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair magazine, reports the newspaper website thesun.co.uk.

"Tiger is an intensely competitive athlete and quite serious about his sport. I wanted to reveal that in these photos. And show his incredible focus and dedication," said Leibovitz.

Since the shoot, almost a dozen women have been named as having had flings with world's No.1 golfer who as of now is on indefinite break from the sport.

He has been in hiding since Nov 27 when he crashed his car outside his Florida mansion after a row with wife Elin Nordegren, 30.

Recently, it was reported that he had told his friends he was going on an African safari following the bust-up.