Click photo to enlarge
Tiger Woods is shown in this file photo after he finished
his final hole in Melbourne, Australia, during the
Australian Masters golf tournament at Kingston Heath on
November 15. Photo by AP
Tiger Woods was injured in a car accident outside his
Florida mansion, and a local police chief said his wife used a
golf club to smash out the back window and help get the world's
No 1 golfer out of the SUV early on Friday (local time).
Woods was treated and released from a hospital in good
condition, his spokesman said. The Florida Highway Patrol
said Woods' vehicle hit a fire hydrant and a tree in his
neighbor's yard as he pulled out of his driveway at 2:25 a.m.
Windermere police chief Daniel Saylor told The Associated
Press that officers found the 33-year-old Woods lying in the
street with his wife, Elin, hovering over him.
She told officers she was in the house when she heard the
accident and "came out and broke the back window with a golf
club."
Woods had lacerations to his upper and lower lips, and he had
blood in his mouth, Saylor said.
The chief said Woods was in and out of consciousness when his
two officers arrived. He said the officers held Woods to the
ground and "when he woke up, he tried to get up and lost
consciousness."
Click photo to enlarge
Security guards gather near Tiger Woods' home, left, in
Windemere, Florida, after the crash. (AP Photo/Gourav
Mukherjee)
He said officers treated Woods for 10 minutes until an
ambulance arrived.
The Florida Highway Patrol said Woods was alone in his 2009
Cadillac when he pulled out of his driveway from his mansion
at Isleworth, a gated waterfront community just outside
Orlando.
The patrol reported Woods' injuries as serious, although
Woods spokesman Glenn Greenspan issued a statement that Woods
was treated and released.
The patrol said alcohol was not involved, although the
accident remains under investigation and charges could be
filed.
Left unanswered was where Woods was going at that hour.
Greenspan and agent Mark Steinberg said there would be no
comment beyond the short statement of the accident on Woods'
Web site.
Woods, coming off a two-week trip to China and Australia this
month, is host of the Chevron World Challenge in Thousand
Oaks, California, which starts on Thursday. He is scheduled
to have his press conference on Tuesday at Sherwood Country
Club. Steinberg said he did not know if Woods planned to play
next week.
The accident report was not released until nearly 12 hours
after Woods was injured. Patrol spokesman Kim Montes said the
accident did not meet the criteria of a serious crash, and
the FHP put out a press release only because of inquiries
from local media.
Montes said the patrol reports injuries as serious if they
require more than minor medical attention.
