Woods car-crash injuries cast doubt on future

LOS ANGELES: US golf legend Tiger Woods was recovering in hospital on Wednesday after surgery for serious leg injuries sustained in a car crash that have raised fears for the 45-year-old’s career.

Law enforcement officials said the 15-time major champion, who has been plagued by injury in recent years, would not face reckless driving charges for the crash which didn’t involve any other cars.

Woods was driving alone Tuesday morning in a Los Angeles suburb on a road notorious for fatal accidents when his SUV hit the centre median, crossed into the opposing lane, struck a tree and then rolled over several times. “A reckless driving charge has a lot of elements into it, this is purely an accident,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told reporters. He added that the most Woods could face would be a low-level offense known as an infraction if investigators conclude that he was speeding or not paying attention.

Investigators hope the new vehicle was equipped with a “black box” data recorder that will help shed light on the cause of the third high-profile car incident involving Woods in recent years. Woods underwent surgery to repair “significant orthopedic injuries” to his lower right leg and ankle, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center chief medical officer Anish Mahajan said. This included the insertion of a rod into Woods’s shin bone and the use of “a combination of screws and pins” to stabilise his foot and ankle. In the same statement posted on Woods’s Twitter account, his representatives said he was “currently awake, responsive, and recovering in his hospital room.” The crash comes just two months after the golfing phenomenon underwent his fifth back operation.

Woods has had three procedures on his knee too during a career that has also seen him bounce back from high-profile scandal in his personal life.

In 2019, he completed an astonishing comeback from four back operations between 2014 and 2017 to win the Masters, his first major title since 2008.

News of his latest injuries has cast doubt on Woods’s ability to compete at the top level again.

“He’s not Superman,” fourtime major champion Rory McIlroy said ahead of a tournament in Florida on Wednesday.

“He’s a human being at the end of the day. And he’s already been through so much. At this stage I think everyone should just be grateful that he’s here, that he’s alive, that his kids haven’t lost their dad,” added the Northern Irishman.