Golf star Tiger Woods was in hospital Tuesday morning after a serious rollover accident near Rancho Palos Verdes, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
Woods was the lone occupant of a Genesis GV80 SUV traveling north on Hawthorne Boulevard in Blackhorse Road when it crashed just after 7 a.m., authorities said. The vehicle sustained significant damage and Woods had to be pulled from the wreckage by Los Angeles County fire and paramedics, sheriff officials said.
Sources said it had to be removed through the car’s windshield.
“Due to the situation and the way you found the vehicle, it couldn’t open the door and exit,” LA County Fire Department spokesman Henry Narvaez said. “We freed him, we helped him out of the vehicle.”
He was transported to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center by ambulance, where he is in “serious” condition and is being treated for his injuries, the fire department said.
Woods “suffered multiple leg injuries. He is currently in surgery and we thank you for your privacy and support, ”said his manager, Mark Steinberg.
Aerial footage of the crash scene showed Woods’ vehicle lying about 30 yards off the road on its side.
Woods was in Los Angeles hosting the Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club, which ended on Sunday. He did not perform in the event, as he recovered from his fifth back surgery, but told CBS announcer Jim Nantz in an interview in the final round that he hoped to play in the Masters in April.
“God, I hope so. I have to get there first, ”Woods said in the interview. “A lot of it is based on my surgeons and doctors and my therapist and making sure I’m doing it right. It’s the only back I have, I don’t have much room to maneuver anymore.
According to various reports, Woods was on the golf course filming something for Golf Digest on Monday, and retired NBA star Dwayne Wade and comedian David Spade tweeted that they were playing with him that day. .
Law enforcement sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter told The Times that Woods was traveling at high speed and had lost control of the vehicle before to cross the central separator. Woods’ SUV rolled several times before coming to a stop. Officials have not disclosed the cause of the crash.
The crash happened on a winding and steep stretch of Hawthorne Boulevard, a main road that crosses the Palos Verdes peninsula where signs warn trucks to use lower speeds when descending. The road was closed on Tuesday morning as deputies investigated.
Sheriff’s assistants who specialize in accident investigations photograph the scene and will take measurements and detail the wreckage before it is removed. The front of the SUV was badly damaged and the windshield frame had been removed from where Woods had been pulled from the vehicle.
Bob Fong, 67, who lives on Blackhorse Road just north of the crash site, noticed police cars on Hawthorne Boulevard on Tuesday morning and thought to himself, “It must be a big celebrity who turned up. crushed.”
Fong knows how difficult the two turns on the steep Hawthorne Road can be – so much so that there are two runoff roads for vehicles to slow down, he said.
Speed bumps are scattered around the hilly areas.
This is not the first car accident in which Woods has been involved. In 2009, as he was exiting his driveway in a gated community near Orlando, Florida, his Cadillac SUV struck a fire hydrant and struck a neighbor’s tree.
In 2017, Woods was arrested in Jupiter, Florida after police found him asleep while driving his car. Woods later said the incident was caused by an “unexpected reaction to prescribed medication.”
Times editor-in-chief Christina Schoellkopf contributed to this report.
