Golf legend Tiger Woods suffered serious leg injuries and was trapped but conscious when emergency responders reached the scene of his one-vehicle rollover crash on a stretch of California road known for speeding and accidents, authorities said Tuesday.
Woods, 45, was driving shortly after 7 a.m. PT in Rancho Palos Verdes, near Los Angeles, when the SUV he was using crossed a median and went across two lanes of road before hitting a curb, hitting a tree and landing on its side off the roadway in the brush.
A Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who was the first to arrive said he found Woods still in the driver’s seat, wearing his seatbelt, and that the golfer was able to tell him his name was Tiger.
The 15-time major champion was lucid and calm, but potentially in shock, and didn’t seem to be concerned with his injuries at the time, Deputy Carlos Gonzalez said.
Firefighters used a pry bar and an ax to extricate the golfer, who this past weekend hosted a PGA Tour event in the area but didn’t play because of a recent back surgery. They put Woods in a neck collar and on a backboard and took him to the hospital in stable condition with serious injuries to both legs, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby told reporters.
Woods’ agent, Mark Steinberg, said the golfer was in surgery with multiple injuries, according to Golf Digest.
How the crash happened
The crash, which destroyed the front of the Genesis SUV courtesy vehicle, could have been fatal, but the airbags and seatbelts helped Woods survive, Gonzalez and Sheriff Alex Villanueva said.
The sheriff said he thinks Woods was traveling at a high rate of speed down a hilly part of the road when the crash occurred.
There were no skid marks or other indications of braking, Villanueva added.
Villanueva said that section of road is “downhill on a curve,” and he and Gonzalez said the area is known as a trouble spot for speeding and accidents.
Deputies responding to Woods saw no evidence of impairment, Villanueva said, and they didn’t ask hospital officials to take a blood draw, he said.
A Los Angeles law enforcement source told CNN that no field sobriety test was administered because of the seriousness of Woods’ injuries.
A tweet from the sheriff’s department earlier said rescuers used the Jaws of Life to get Woods out of the vehicle, but Osby said firefighters in fact used a tool for prying and an ax to remove the windshield and free Woods.
Woods was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, a trauma center. CNN has reached out to the hospital for his condition.
The sheriff’s department said Woods was the only occupant of the car.
Another car, not involved in the initial rollover incident, stopped after the crash and was rear-ended, according to Los Angeles County PIO Henry Narvaez.
The days leading up to the crash
Woods likely was headed for the Rolling Hills Country Club in nearby Rolling HIlls Estates for a shoot with Golf Digest and Golf TV, according to Daniel Rapaport, the Tiger Woods correspondent for Golf Digest.
Woods had a 7:30 a.m. call time, with shooting supposed to begin around 8. It was the second day of shooting.
Rapaport told CNN’s “Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” that Woods was not playing or hitting, but was giving on-course playing lessons to celebrities.
“He was in good spirits on Monday when he did that,” Rapaport said of the shoot.
Woods had hosted the Genesis Invitational over the weekend, and was seen intermittently on Saturday and more often during Sunday’s final round.
Woods was at the course Monday with NBA legend Dwyane Wade, actress Jada Pinkett Smith and actor David Spade.
“The reason I picked up a golf club. Yesterday was a pretty cool day! Thank you @tigerwoods @golfdigest for this dope opportunity!” Wade wrote on Instagram Tuesday.
Smith posted photos on Twitter of her and Woods at the links.
“Guess who I had the most awesome golf day with yesterdayyyyyy??? Yes! The magnificent @TigerWoods !!!! Yes … dreams come true. I can’t wait for you to see my golf journey with Tiger. Stay tuned!” she wrote.
Spade joked about Woods’ ability as an instructor.
“Golf lesson with this guy today. And you know what? He’s not bad… He picks things up very quickly. Good listener,” he tweeted with a photo of himself and a smiling Woods.
