What we know about the Tiger Woods car crash

Tiger Woods was rushed to a hospital with serious leg injuries Tuesday morning in Los Angeles County after he was involved in a single-car crash in a hilly area known for car crashes.

Here’s what we know so far:

What happened?

At approximately 7 a.m. Pacific time on Tuesday, police received a call to 911 about an accident on Hawthorne Boulevard near Rancho Palos Verdes, a coastal town of about 42,000 in Los Angeles County. .

Officers arrived at the scene six minutes later and found Tiger Woods trapped in a overturned SUV, said Alex Villanueva, the Los Angeles County Sheriff.

Deputy Carlos Gonzalez, the first officer at the scene, said he decided firefighters needed to extract Woods from the vehicle and spoke to Woods while they waited.

Emergency workers used an ax and a Halligan tool, a type of pry bar, to pry the windshield off the vehicle and extract Woods, said Daryl L. Osby, Los Angeles County Fire Department chief. Woods was placed on a back panel and taken by ambulance to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, the nearest trauma center, MP Gonzalez said. Woods underwent emergency surgery, according to his longtime agent Mark Steinberg.

What was Woods’ condition?

Woods was aware when the first officer arrived at the scene and answered several questions, such as his name, his whereabouts and the time of day. MP Gonzalez said Woods appeared “clearheaded and calm”.

Chief Osby said Woods was in stable condition but had “serious injuries” to both legs. The chief did not explain further. He said he wasn’t sure what other injuries Woods might have suffered, but that any additional injuries would not “be life threatening.”

According to Sheriff Villanueva, the Woods manager wanted no more information on his condition or any updates on his operation.

What caused the crash? Was Woods accelerating?

It will take days or weeks for road investigators to complete their investigation into the cause of the accident.

Woods was driving downhill on a curved road. The speed limit is 45 miles per hour, but Deputy Gonzalez said he has occasionally seen vehicles going over 80 miles per hour. Sheriff Villanueva said it looked like Woods was driving at “above normal speed”.

The vehicle Woods was driving hit the middle lane, Sheriff Villanueva said, crossed it and then traveled several hundred yards, rolled several times and came to rest in the brush on the opposite side of the road. There were no skid marks, indicating that Woods had made no attempt to brake, the sheriff said, and that his first contact was with the center midline before crossing into the opposite traffic lane.

According to Sheriff Villanueva, there was no evidence of any impairment, such as alcohol or pill bottles, the smell of alcohol, or unusual behavior by Woods. Because Woods did not appear weakened, the sheriff said, “There was no effort to draw blood, for example, in the hospital.

There was no evidence that Woods was being followed by other vehicles, and it was not clear whether he could look at his phone or be distracted at the time of the crash, the sheriff said.

Weather, such as a wet road or fog, was not a factor in the crash, according to the sheriff. Woods was wearing his seat belt and the car’s airbags deployed, MP Gonzalez said. The bumper and front of the car were “destroyed” but the interior cabin of the vehicle was “more or less intact,” Sheriff Villanueva said.

Investigators will likely be able to get information about what Woods was doing through the vehicle’s event data recorder, or “black box.” Additionally, Deputy Gonzalez was carrying a body camera when he arrived at the scene. It is not known if there were any witnesses to the accident; the first person to call 911 lives near where the vehicle pulled up and heard the crash, MP Gonzalez said.

Why was Woods in the Los Angeles area?

Woods, who lives in Florida, was in Southern California to host, but not participate in, the Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades last weekend. Genesis Motor is a luxury vehicle division of Hyundai. Woods was in a 2021 Genesis GV80 SUV, which was provided to him during the tournament; he is known to always be driven in a courtesy car during tournaments.

Woods stayed on after the weekend to do a promotional photoshoot for Golf Digest, and when the crash happened, ESPN said he was on his way for a photoshoot with NFL quarterbacks Drew Brees and Justin Herbert. .

Where was Woods’ career before the accident?

Even before Tuesday’s sinking, it was unclear when Woods, 45, could play again or if he would be able to pursue a record-breaking sixth Masters win this spring.

Woods was trying to recover from his fifth back surgery, a microdiscectomy he had last month.

When he appeared on CBS Sunday in the final round of the Genesis Tournament, Woods was asked if he would be competing in the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in April. “God, I hope so,” he said. “I have to get there first.”

Although Woods said last month that he expected to miss at least two tournaments, he has not publicly ruled out playing at the Masters, which he last won in 2019. On Sunday, he said that he “felt good, a little stiff” and was waiting for another MRI scan to assess his progress.

In the meantime, he said, he “was always doing the mundane things you need to do for rehab, the little things before you could start to gravitate a little bit more towards something more.”

Woods tied for 38th place at the Masters 2020, which was played in November due to the coronavirus pandemic. Although he shot a 10 on the 12th hole in the final round, he birdied five of the last six holes.