Sheriff blames crash on Woods’ speeding
Authorities say Tiger Woods was speeding when he crashed an SUV in Southern California less than two months ago, leaving him seriously injured.
The golf superstar was driving at nearly 90 miles an hour (145km/ h) on a downhill stretch of road outside Los Angeles that had a speed limit of 45mph (72km/h), Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said yesterday.
The stretch of road is known for wrecks and drivers hitting speeds so high that there is an emergency exit for runaway vehicles just beyond where Woods crashed.
Villanueva blamed the February 23 crash solely on excessive speed and Woods’ loss of control behind the wheel.
Detectives did not seek search warrants for the athlete’s blood samples, which could have been screened for drugs or alcohol.
Investigators, however, did search the SUV’S data recorder, known as a black box, in the days after the crash.
Originally from the Los Angeles area, Woods had been back home in February to host his PGA tournament, the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.
He was driving an SUV loaned to him by the tournament when he struck a raised median. The SUV crossed through two oncoming lanes and uprooted a tree.
The athlete is in Florida recovering from multiple surgeries, including a lengthy procedure for shattered tibia and fibula bones in his lower right leg in multiple locations. Those were stabilised with a rod in his tibia.
Additional injuries to the bones in his foot and ankle required screws and pins.
Woods, 45, has never gone an entire year without playing, dating back to his first PGA Tour event as a 16-year-old in high school.
He had hoped to play this year in the Masters tournament, which begins today.
This is the third time Woods has been involved in a vehicle investigation.
The most notorious example was when his SUV ran over a fire hydrant and hit a tree early on the morning after Thanksgiving in 2009.
That crash was the start of shocking revelations that he had been cheating on his wife with multiple women.
Woods lost major corporate sponsorships, went to a rehabilitation clinic in Mississippi and did not return to golf for five months. —AP