Woods fortunate to survive: police officer
GOLF
LOS ANGELES: Tiger Woods crashed his SUV on a sweeping, downhill road in the Los Angeles suburbs yesterday, and doctors have tried to stabilise ‘‘significant’’ injuries to his right leg with rods and a combination of screws and pins.
Woods was driving to a television shoot when his SUV crashed into a median, rolled over and ended up on its side near a steep road known for wrecks, authorities said.
Golf’s biggest star had to be pulled out through the windshield.
Woods’ foundation said in a statement he was awake, responsive and recovering in hospital.
Dr Anish Mahajan, the chief medical officer at HarborUCLA Medical Centre, said Woods shattered the tibia and fibula bones of his lower right leg in multiple places.
Those injuries were stabilised with a rod in the tibia.
Additional injuries to the bones in the foot and ankle required screws and pins, Mahajan said in a statement released on Woods’ Twitter account.
A resident near the accident site called 911.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy Carlos Gonzalez, the first on the scene, poked his head through a hole in the windshield to see Woods, his seatbelt fastened, sitting in the driver’s seat.
‘‘I will say that it’s very fortunate that Woods was able to come out of this alive,’’ Gonzalez said.
The singlecar crash was another setback for Woods (45), the preeminent golfer of his generation who has spent the last decade in a cycle of injuries, selfinflicted personal problems and an arrest for drinkdriving.
Each time, he returned to the course and won.
Woods is among the more recognisable sports figures in the world and remains golf’s biggest draw.
His 2019 Masters victory was seen as a transcendent comeback and further cemented his reputation for toughness and clutch performances.
Police said there was no evidence he was impaired and noone else was injured. No charges have been filed. It was the 10th surgery for Woods, who has suffered knee, back and neck problems for more than a decade.
Woods was in Los Angeles over the weekend as tournament host of the Genesis Invitational that ended on Monday and then to film content for his sponsor, Discoveryowned GOLFTV.
He was alone in the SUV when it crashed into a raised median, crossed two oncoming lanes and rolled several times.
Los Angeles County Sheriff
Alex Villanueva said the airbags deployed and the inside of the SUV stayed mostly intact, which ‘‘gave him a cushion to survive the crash’’.
Authorities said they had checked for any odour of alcohol or other signs he was under the influence of a substance and found none. They did not say how fast he was driving.
Thoughts and prayers have come from everywhere — Jack Nicklaus and Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson and former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, who has played golf with Woods and awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2019.
Woods shares with Sam Snead the PGA Tour record of 82 career victories. — AAP