Tiger Woods Didn't Pay Rachel a Penny

Sources tell TMZ Rachel Uchitel did not make any financial deal with Tiger Woods -- and there are two reasons she torpedoed her scheduled news conference yesterday: fear and secrets.

Sources say in the wee hours of the morning yesterday, after many phone calls back and forth between Rachel, Tiger and their reps, Rachel decided not to come out fighting at a news conference. She walked away without taking a cent from Tiger Woods. One very connected source said, "This was absolutely not about money."

Sources say Rachel became "scared for her safety" because she knows so much about Tiger, his alleged affairs and a variety of other Woods matters. We're told Tiger confided in Rachel ... she knows specifics about "other women," as well as information about Tiger's marriage.

The sources were quick to point out, Rachel does not fear Tiger, as much as she fears all the other people caught in what is becoming a very large net.

Rachel, we're told, just wants to disappear for a while.