It gets better...
Police chief: Woods' wife helped after accident
By DOUG FERGUSON, AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson, Ap Golf Writer 1 hr 9
mins ago
Tiger Woods was injured early Friday when he lost control of his SUV
outside his Florida mansion, and a local police chief said Woods' wife
used a golf club to smash out the back window to help get him out.
The world's No. 1 golfer 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
after 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 PGA star lying in the street with his
wife, Elin, hovering over him.
"She was frantic, upset," Saylor said in a briefing Friday night. "It
was her husband laying on the ground."
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," he said, adding
that the front-door windows were not broken and that "the door was
probably locked."
"She supposedly got him out and laid him on the ground," he said. "He
was in and out of consciousness when my guys got there."
Saylor said Woods had lacerations to his upper and lower lips, and
blood in his mouth; officers treated Woods for about 10 minutes until
an ambulance arrived. Woods was conscious enough to speak, he said.
"He was mumbling, but didn't say anything coherent," Saylor said.
The Florida Highway Patrol said alcohol was not involved, although the
accident remains under investigation and charges could be filed.
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 said.
Woods' injuries were described as serious in the patrol's report,
though his spokesman, Glenn Greenspan, issued a statement that Woods
was treated and released.
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 posted on Woods' Web site.
Saylor said his responding officers did not hear anything about an
alleged argument between Woods and his wife.
"Right now we believe this is a traffic crash. We don't believe it is
domestic issue," patrol spokesman Sgt. Kim Montes said.
Woods, coming off a two-week trip to China and Australia earlier this
month, is host of the Chevron World Challenge in Thousand Oaks,
Calif., which starts Thursday. He is scheduled to have his press
conference Tuesday afternoon at Sherwood Country Club. Steinberg said
he did not know if Woods planned to play next week.
The Florida Highway Patrol said tapes of the 911 call won't be
released until they can be reviewed, probably Monday at the earliest.
The accident report was not released until nearly 12 hours after Woods
was injured. Montes said the accident did not meet the criteria of a
serious crash, and the FHP only put out a press release because of
inquiries from local media.
Montes said the patrol reports injuries as serious if they require
more than minor medical attention. Air bags in the SUV did not deploy.
Two troopers tried to talk to Woods on Friday evening, but his wife
said he was sleeping and they agreed to come back Saturday, Montes
said.
She said charges could be filed if there was a clear traffic
violation, although troopers still do not know what caused Woods' SUV
to hit the hydrant and the tree.
Damage to the front of Woods' SUV was described as "medium" by Saylor.
"Not real extensive, but not real light," he said.
Woods rarely faces such private scrutiny, even as perhaps the most
famous active athlete in the world.
He usually makes news only because of what he can do with a golf club.
Few other athletes have managed to keep their private lives so
guarded, or have a circle of friends so airtight when it comes to life
off the course.
His wife was awarded a $183,250 settlement and an apology from an
Irish magazine that published a fake nude photo of her, and Woods
received a $1.6 million settlement in a lawsuit against the builder of
his yacht � named Privacy � for using his name and photos of the boat
as promotional material.
Woods is approaching $100 million in career earnings on the PGA Tour,
and Forbes magazine reported that combined with endorsements,
appearance fees and golf course design, he has become the first
athlete to top $1 billion.
Woods' $2.4 million home is part of an exclusive subdivision near
Orlando, a community set on an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course and
a chain of small lakes. The neighborhood, which is fortified with high
brick walls and has its own security force, is home to CEOs and other
sports stars such as the NBA's Shaquille O'Neal.
Woods, who has won 82 times around the world and 14 majors, attended
the Stanford-Cal football game last Saturday, where he tossed the coin
at the start of the game and was inducted into Stanford's sports Hall
of Fame at halftime.
He won six times this year after missing eight months recovering from
reconstructive surgery on his left knee. Even though he failed to win
a major, Woods said he considered this a successful year because he
did not know how his knee would respond.