Woods was “awake, responsive, and recovering,” after surgery at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, the statement said.
The 45-year-old was driving shortly after 7 a.m. PT on Tuesday in Rancho Palos Verdes, near Los Angeles, when the SUV he was using crossed a median strip and swerved two lanes before hitting a curb, hitting a tree and landing. on its side in the brush.
Woods remained conscious but suffered serious leg injuries, authorities said Tuesday.
Orthopedic trauma specialists placed a bar in his shin to stabilize both the tibia and fibula bones, stabilized the foot and ankle bones with a combination of screws and pins, and relieved pressure on the muscles and soft tissue of his leg through the covering of the leg. muscle, said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anish Mahajan in the statement.
After seeing the damage at the crash site, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said it was “nothing short of a miracle” that Woods was still alive.
“We’ve seen accidents with far less obvious ones [damage] those are fatalities, ” Villanueava told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Tuesday.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy Carlos Gonzalez responded to the crash, where he found a lucid Woods, still strapped to his seat belt, but trapped when the vehicle rolled into the driver’s door. Gonzalez said that once he realized the golfer was conscious, he kept him talking in the hope that he would not go into further shock before medical attention could arrive.
“I really think that the fact that he was wearing a seat belt and that the car’s safety features worked as designed by the manufacturer probably resulted in his injury being reduced or his life saved,” Gonzalez told Cuomo.
The rescue
When he arrived at the scene, Woods appeared not only bright, but also calm and unconcerned about his injuries – possibly indicating shock, Gonzalez said.
Los Angeles County firefighters came to free him, but the golfer tried to remove himself from the SUV, but couldn’t, Chief Daryl Osby told CNN’s John Berman. Woods couldn’t stand alone, Gonzalez said.
Firefighters used a crowbar and ax to free the golfer, who hosted a PGA Tour event in the area last weekend but did not play due to recent back surgery.
They broke the windshield with the ax and used the bar to pry the seats and metal around Woods’ legs loose, Osby said.
The rescuers put Woods in a collar, attached leg splints, and used a sign to take him through the giant hole in the windshield to an ambulance. He went to the hospital in a serious but stable condition with injuries to both legs, Osby said.
How the crash happened
The 15-time Grand Champion drove a Genesis SUV courtesy vehicle and is said to have traveled at high speed, authorities said. There were no skid marks or other evidence of braking, Villanueva added.
Villanueva said the section of the road is “downhill in a curve,” and he and Gonzalez said the area is known as a problem area for speeding and accidents.
Delegates who responded to Woods saw no evidence of a restriction, Villanueva said, and they did not ask hospital officials to draw blood, he said. A Los Angeles law enforcement source told CNN that due to the severity of Woods’ injuries, no field sobriety test was conducted.
The sheriff’s department said Woods was the only occupant of the car.
According to Henry Narvaez, PIO in Los Angeles County, another car, not involved in the first rollover incident, stopped.
Woods hosted Genesis International and was at the course the day before
According to Daniel Rapaport, the Tiger Woods correspondent for Golf Digest, Woods was likely headed to the Rolling Hills Country Club in nearby Rolling Hills Estates for a shoot with Golf Digest and Golf TV.
“Tiger has a longstanding partnership with Discovery and develops exclusive content for GOLFTV and Golf Digest,” Golf Digest said. “He filmed his last series with us yesterday, where he will teach a number of celebrities, including Jada Pinkett Smith, Dwyane Wade and David Spade. He would continue to film with us today.”
Tuesday’s scheduled shootings were to shoot Woods with Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, a source familiar with the shoot, told CNN. ESPN reported that New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees would also be part of the shoot with Herbert.
CNN has contacted the New Orleans Saints but has heard nothing.
Woods had a call time of 7:30 am, and the shooting would start around 8am. It was the second day of the shoot.
Rapaport told CNN’s “Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” that Woods did not play or hit, but gave playing lessons to celebrities.
“He was excited on Monday when he did,” Rapaport said of the shoot.
Woods hosted the Genesis Invitational this weekend and was seen intermittently on Saturday and more frequently during Sunday’s final round.
Many sports stars posted their support for Woods after the news of the crash.
CNN’s Stella Chan and Cheri Mossburg reported from Los Angeles and Madeline Holcombe reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN’s Jill Martin, Steve Almasy, Paul Vercammen, Andy Rose, David Close, Kevin Dotson and Dan Moriarty contributed to this report.