As Woods recovers, L.A. police rule out charges in crash
Los Angeles police ruled out alcohol and said there was nothing to indicate impairment in the single vehicle crash that left golf superstar Tiger Woods in hospital with a crushed right leg.
“We don’t contemplate any charges whatsoever in this crash,” L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said on Wednesday. “This is what it is, an accident.”
Woods remains in hospital after rolling the SUV he was driving early Tuesday morning on the way to a photo shoot. News of the crash, and stunning images of a heavily damaged 2021 Hyundai Genesis, led to hours of speculation about the condition of one of the most famous athletes in the world.
Overnight Tuesday, Woods’ camp shed some light on the severe injuries the 82-time PGA Tour winner had suffered. Woods has comminuted compound fractures of both his right tibia and fibula, as well as broken bones in his right foot and ankle. A comminuted fracture is when the bone is broken into three or more pieces, and a compound fracture means the bone has pierced the skin.
Woods underwent a long surgical procedure that involved, among other things, inserting a metal rod in his right tibia, according to Dr. Anish Mahajan, Harbor-ucla Medical Center’s chief medical officer.
“Additional injuries to the bones in the foot and ankle required screws and pins,” Mahajan said. “Trauma to the muscle and soft-tissue of the leg required surgical release of the covering of the muscles to relieve pressure due to swelling.”
The statement from Woods’ team said the golfer was awake, responsive, and recovering.
The detail of the health information already released about Woods’ condition is surprising, as the golfer is notoriously private about his injuries.
The cause of the single car accident is unknown. Police hope to access a black box from the SUV to shed some light on the speed Woods was travelling at the time of the crash. This isn’t the first time Woods has been involved in driving incidents. In 2009, he was found semi-conscious outside his Florida home after hitting a fire hydrant. Four years ago, Woods was charged with driving under the influence after failing a roadside sobriety test when police found him asleep at the wheel. Afterwards, he sought help for a reliance on pain killers.
The L.A. police were adamant that there was nothing to suggest anything similar took place this week.
“He was not drunk, we can definitely throw that one out,” Villanueva said. “There was no evidence of any impairment.
That’s just the facts . ... We hold everyone accountable to the rule law no matter what your celebrity status is. This was an accident.”
Villanueva said Woods’ crash occurred on a notoriously dangerous downhill, twisty stretch of road that has seen 13 accidents — four involving injuries — since last January.
The sheriff said that there was no evidence Woods was on narcotics or medications and should investigators want to see Woods’ hospital toxicology report, they would need a warrant. A warrant would also be needed to access Woods’ phone records to see if the golfer was potentially distracted at the time of the crash.
With five back surgeries,
five knee surgeries, and now a brutal leg injury, Woods’ future on the golf course is a complete unknown.
“Listen, when Tiger wants to talk about golf, we’ll talk about golf,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said Wednesday. “But I think right now the entirety of our efforts needs to be around the support. When you’re going to overcome what he needs to overcome, I think the love of all of our players and everybody out here, it’s going to come forward in a big way . ... I think he’ll feel that energy and I think that’s what we should all focus on.”
When it comes to frequent updates on Woods’ health, don’t bet on it. When it comes to Tiger’s recovery, history says don’t bet against it.