Tiger Woods was rushed to hospital in Los Angeles County with serious leg injuries on Tuesday morning after being involved in a car accident in a hilly area known for car accidents.
Here’s what we know so far:
What happened?
At approximately 7 a.m. Pacific Time Tuesday, police received a 911 call about a crash on Hawthorne Boulevard near Rancho Palos Verdes, a coastal city of about 42,000 people in Los Angeles County.
Officers arrived at the scene six minutes later and found Tiger Woods in an SUV that had rolled over, said Los Angeles County sheriff Alex Villanueva.
Deputy Carlos Gonzalez, the first officer on the scene, said he had decided that firefighters should get Woods out of the vehicle and that he had spoken to Woods while they waited.
Rescuers used an ax and Halligan tool, a kind of crowbar, to remove the vehicle’s windshield and free Woods, said Daryl L. Osby, chief of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Woods was placed on a plate and taken by ambulance to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, the nearest trauma center, Deputy Gonzalez said. Woods underwent emergency surgery, according to his longtime agent, Mark Steinberg.
What was Woods’s condition?
Woods was conscious when the first officer arrived and answered several questions, such as his name, where he was, and the time of day. Deputy Gonzalez said Woods had appeared “bright and calm.”
Chief Osby said Woods was in a stable condition, but had “serious injuries” to both his legs. The chief did not explain further. He said he was not sure what other injuries Woods would have sustained, but that any additional injuries would not be “life-threatening.”
According to Sheriff Villanueva, Woods’ manager did not want more information about his condition or an update on his operation to be released.
What caused the crash? Woods went too fast?
It takes traffic investigators days or weeks to complete their investigation into the cause of the crash.
Woods drove down a winding road. The speed limit is 45 miles per hour, but Representative Gonzalez said he had sometimes seen vehicles driving more than 80 miles per hour. Sheriff Villanueva said it appeared that Woods was driving at a “faster than normal speed.”
The vehicle that Woods was driving hit the median strip, Sheriff Villanueva said, went over it and then drove a few hundred yards, rolled several times and came to a stop in the bushes on the other side of the road. There were no skid marks, indicating that Woods had made no attempt to brake, the sheriff said, and that his first contact had been with the center median strip before entering the opposite lane.
Sheriff Villanueva said there was no evidence of damage, such as alcohol or pill bottles, a smell of alcohol, or unusual behavior from Woods. Because Woods did not appear handicapped, the sheriff said, “there was no attempt to draw blood, say, in the hospital.”
There was no evidence that Woods was being followed by other vehicles, and it was not known whether he was looking at his phone or otherwise distracted at the time of the crash, the sheriff said.
The weather, such as a wet road or fog, played no role in the crash, according to the sheriff. Woods was wearing his seat belt and the car’s airbags had deployed, Deputy Gonzalez said. The bumper and front of the car had been “destroyed,” but the vehicle’s interior was “more or less intact,” Sheriff Villanueva said.
Investigators can likely get some information about what Woods was doing through the vehicle’s event data recorder, or “black box.” Deputy Gonzalez was also wearing a body camera when he arrived at the scene. It is unclear whether there were any witnesses to the crash; The first person to call the emergency number lives near where the vehicle settled and heard the crash, Deputy Gonzalez said.
Why was Woods in the Los Angeles area?
Woods, who lives in Florida, was in Southern California last weekend to host the Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, but not to participate. Genesis Motor is a luxury car division of Hyundai. Woods was in a 2021 Genesis GV80 SUV, made available to him during the tournament; he is known for always driving a free car at tournaments.
Woods stayed over the weekend to do a promotional photo shoot for Golf Digest, and when the crash happened, according to ESPN, he was on his way to a photo shoot with NFL quarterbacks Drew Brees and Justin Herbert.
Where did Woods’ career stand before the crash?
Even before Tuesday’s wreck, it wasn’t clear when Woods, 45, would play again or if he could take a record-breaking sixth Masters victory this spring.
Woods was trying to recover from his fifth back surgery, a microdiscectomy he had last month.
When he appeared on CBS on Sunday during the final round of the Genesis tournament, Woods was asked if he would compete in the Augusta National Golf Club Masters in April. “God, I hope so,” he said. “I have to get there first.”
Although Woods said last month that he expected to miss at least two tournaments, he did not publicly rule out playing in the Masters, which he last won in 2019. On Sunday, he said he was “feeling fine, a little stiff. and waited for another MRI scan to evaluate his progress.
Meanwhile, he said, he was “still doing the mundane things you need to do for rehab, the little things before you lean towards anything more.”
Woods tied for 38th place in the Masters 2020, which was played in November due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although he shot a 10 on the 12th hole on the last round, he birdied for five of the last six holes.