Professional golfer Tiger Woods was involved in a serious car accident on Tuesday in Los Angeles and was taken to the hospital after first responders resorted to rescuing him by pulling him through the windshield.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said that the vehicle, which was rolled-over, sustained “major damage” in the accident.
“Tiger Woods was in a single-car accident this morning in California where he suffered multiple leg injuries,” Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, said in a statement. “He is currently in surgery and we thank you for your privacy and support.”
The L.A. County sheriff’s department originally said Woods was removed from the car using the “jaws of life,” but later walked back that claim, saying Woods was actually removed using an axe and a halligan. “They used simple tools, they had an axe, another tool called a halligan, they pried the windshield off, and he was removed from the windshield,” said Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
The golfer was alone in the car.
“Woods, 45, was in California for a two-day content shoot with Golf Digest/GOLFTV after serving as host for the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational over the weekend,” Golf Digest reported. “Pictures surfaced on social media of Woods smiling with Dwayne Wade and David Spade at Rolling Hills Country Club on Monday, but with his movement still restricted, he did not hit balls or play any holes.”
“A KABC-TV helicopter over the scene of Woods’ accident showed a car on its side with the front end heavily damaged,” the ESPN reported. “Air bags appeared to be deployed. The wreckage appeared to be just off the side of a road on a hillside.”
BREAKING: Tiger Woods transported to hospital with injuries following vehicle crash with "major damage," LA County Sheriff's Dept. says. pic.twitter.com/hxcGYAig8D
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 23, 2021
The Associated Press reported:
This is the third time Woods has been involved in a car investigation. The most notorious was the early morning after Thanksgiving in 2009, when his SUV ran over a fire hydrant and hit a tree. That was the start of shocking revelations that he had been cheating on his wife with multiple women. Woods lost major corporate sponsorship, went to a rehabilitation clinic in Mississippi and did not return to golf for five months.
In May 2017, Florida police found him asleep behind the wheel of a car parked awkwardly on the side of the road. He was arrested on a DUI charge and said later he had an unexpected reaction to prescription medicine his back pain. Woods later pleaded guilty to reckless driving and checked into a clinic to get help with prescription medication and a sleep disorder.
In late December, Woods underwent back surgery, his fifth overall, casting doubt as to whether he would be ready in time to play in the Masters coming up in April.
“God, I hope so, but I’ve got to get there first,” Woods told Jim Nantz on Sunday during the CBS broadcast of the final round of the Genesis Invitational. “I got to get there first. A lot of it is based on my surgeons and my doctors and my therapists and making sure I do it correctly because this is the only back I got, so I don’t have much more wiggle room left here.”
This report was updated after the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department walked back the claim that first responders removed Woods from the car using the “jaws of life.” According to the sheriff, first responders removed him with the help of an axe and a halligan.