Golf star Tiger Woods is in hospital with “multiple leg injuries” after a serious car crash in California.
He is undergoing surgery and his condition is not yet clear, authorities and his manager said.
Woods had to be freed from his car with the “jaws of life” tools and then taken to hospital by ambulance after his car rolled over in the Los Angeles area shortly before 7.15am (Pacific Standard Time) on Tuesday.
There was major damage to the golfer’s car, the sheriff’s department said.
Woods was the only person in his car and no other cars were involved in the wreck, authorities said.
A KABC-TV helicopter at the scene show a car on its side with the front end heavily damaged. Air bags appear to be deployed. The wreckage appears to be just off the side of a road on a hillside.
Woods’ manager Mark Steinberg said: “Tiger Woods was in a single-car accident this morning in California where he suffered multiple leg injuries.
“He is currently in surgery and we thank you for your privacy and support.”
There was a second minor crash when another driver stopped their vehicle to help Woods but got hit, said Christopher Thomas, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. No one was hurt in that second crash.
Woods’ crash happened about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, on the border of the upscale communities of Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes, officials said.
Woods was in Los Angeles over the weekend as the host of the Genesis Invitational golf tournament at Riviera, where he presented the trophy.
He was to spend Monday and Tuesday filming with GolfTV, which he has an endorsement contract with. A tweet on Monday showed him in a cart smiling with David Spade.
According to Golf Digest, whose owner Discovery also owns GolfTV streaming service, the TV shoot was on-course lessons to celebrities including Spade and Dwyane Wade.
The 15-time major champion had a fifth surgery on his back, a microdiscectomy, two days before Christmas. The last time he played was on December 20 in the PNC Championship with his 11-year-old son, Charlie.
He has given no indication when he would return to playing golf. The Masters is from April 8 to 11 and when asked if he would be there during the CBS telecast, Woods replied: “God, I hope so.”
This is the third time Woods has been involved in a car investigation.
In the early morning after Thanksgiving in 2009, he ran his SUV over a fire hydrant and hit a tree.
In May 2017, police in Florida found him asleep behind the wheel of a car parked awkwardly on the side of the road.
He was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence. He later said he had an unexpected reaction to prescription medicine for his back pain. Woods pleaded guilty to reckless driving and checked into a clinic to get help with prescription medication and a sleep disorder.
