Tiger Woods injured in car accident

story by Orlando Sentinel
photo by Robert Gonzalez for Orlando Sentinel (Woods house center)

written by Henry Pierson Curtis and Willoughby Mariano

Tiger Woods' wife used a golf club to smash a window of his Cadillac Escalade and get her injured husband out of the SUV after he crashed into a fire hydrant and tree early Friday morning outside his Isleworth mansion, Windermere Mayor Gary Bruhn said.

In addition, a call report compiled by the Orange County Sheriff's Office and obtained by the Orlando Sentinel indicated Woods was unconscious but breathing when officers arrived on the scene. Woods was unconscious for about six minutes.

Elin Nordegren Woods was in the couple's home shortly before 2:30 Friday morning when she heard the accident and came outside. She broke one of the windows and freed her husband from the SUV, Bruhn said.

Bruhn said Woods had cuts on his lips and blood in his mouth. Officers gave Woods first aid until medical personnel arrived.

Orange County Fire Rescue received the call for aid at 2:28 a.m. Woods was transported from his Windermere-area neighborhood by the hospital's own ambulance.

It is not known whether Woods was wearing a seat belt. FHP said alcohol is not considered a factor in the accident.

FHP troopers arrived at the Woods' home early Friday evening to talk to the golfer, FHP spokeswoman Kim Montes said. Woods wife told them Woods was resting and asked them to return Saturday morning. They agreed.

"People's health comes first," Montes said, noting that it is routine to agree to return to conduct an interview.

The sheriff's office would not identify who dialed 911, and emergency audio tapes were not available on Friday.

When officers arrived they found the golfer outside of his car and in and out of consciousness, Bruhn said.

Woods, 33, pulled out of his driveway and started driving away from his home on Deacon Circle about 2:25 a.m. when he struck a fire hydrant and drove into a tree on his neighbor's property, the Florida Highway Patrol reported.

Woods was transported to Health Central Hospital in Ocoee in serious condition, FHP said.

Bruhn said Woods had facial cuts in a minor accident. Woods was treated at Health Central early this morning and released.

FHP spokesman Jorge Delahoz said patients' conditions are always classified as "serious" if they are transported to a hospital.

Woods' Web site, TigerWoods.com, said the golfer was treated and released and was in good condition."We appreciate very much everyone's thoughts and well wishes," the site said.The crash is under investigation, and charges are pending.

"When I first heard about it, my heart jumped a beat. But then I googled it and found a story and it sounds like he's OK," veteran PGA Tour golfer Mark Wilson said. "Knowing him, he was probably leaving for an early-morning workout."

Inside the gated Isleworth community, a security guard was standing post outside the front of Woods' $2.4 million home. A woman who answered the door at the home at mid-afternoon declined to answer questions from the Sentinel.

A black Cadillac SUV was sitting in the driveway. FHP said Woods was driving a black Cadillac SUV at the time of the crash.

There were almost no signs of an accident at Woods' home and his next door neighbor's.

An orange-and-white street barricade sat on Woods' front lawn atop a newly dug hole, presumably where the fire hydrant previously sat.

About 10 feet away, a foot-long tire mark was visible in the neighbor's yard near a tree with freshly damaged bark. That oak tree had a few scuff marks on its trunk but was largely undamaged.

The airbags in Woods' Escalade did not deploy, which means the vehicle was traveling under 33 mph, according to FHP.

According to his official website, TigerWoods.com, he is in the middle of a two-week break in tournament play. Woods next tournament is Dec. 3-6 at the Chevron World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Orlando Sentinel staff writers Amy L. Edwards and Rene Stutzman and Chicago Tribune reporter Teddy Greenstein contributed to this report.