From the Examiner:
UPDATE, 7:23 PM: A source familiar with the situation tells the Huffington Post that Woods and his wife were arguing about his alleged affair prior to the accident.
UPDATE, 7:18 PM: SportsByBrooks has posted additional photos of Rachel Uchitel, Tiger Woods’ alleged mistress.
UPDATE, 5:59 PM: Although Woods was scheduled to speak with the police today, his agent told authorities that he and his wife are not available after all. Click here for more.
UPDATE, 3:59 PM: Woods’ alleged mistress, Rachel Uchitel, is considering suing the National Enquirer for defamation, according to TMZ. Clickhere for quotes from Uchitel, including her strong denial that she had an affair with Woods. “We have never had an affair, and the claims we did are completely false.”
UPDATE, 2:59 PM: The AP reports that the Police will release the 911 tapes on Sunday.
UPDATE, 2:53 PM: Click here for photos of Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren, driving a Cadillac SUV today.
UPDATE, 1:57 PM: WFTV has obtained photographs of Woods’ damaged vehicle. See them here.
UPDATE, 1:19 PM: TMZ reports that Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren, has already changed her story from what was said yesterday about using a golf club to remove Woods from his vehicle.
But we’ve learned Nordegren told a very different story to the Florida Highway Patrol, and it does not involve going back in the house for a club. Our sources will not allow us to be more specific.
Check TMZ for additional details. Click here for photos of the former model.
UPDATE, 9:39 AM: 911 tapes will not be released until Monday at the earliest, the AP reports.
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UPDATE, 11/28 12:43 AM: TMZ drops a bomb, reporting that Tiger Woods’ wounds came from the hands of his wife, not a car accident:
We’re told he said his wife had confronted him about reports that he was seeing another woman. The argument got heated and, according to our source, she scratched his face up. We’re told it was then Woods beat a hasty retreat for his SUV — but according to our source, Woods says his wife followed behind with a golf club. As Tiger drove away, she struck the vehicle several times with the club.
We’re told Woods became “distracted,” thought the vehicle was stopped, and looked to see what had happened. At that point the SUV hit the fire hydrant and then hit a tree.
Read their full report here.
UPDATE, 11:32 PM: Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Kim Montes says “we don’t believe [the incident] is a domestic issue.”
“Right now we believe this is a traffic crash. We don’t believe it is a domestic issue,” Montes said, replying to reporters’ questions. “I don’t know where that is coming from. That has not been told to us.”
UPDATE, 10:59 PM: Scroll down for photos of the accident scene.
UPDATE, 7:14 PM: TMZ reports that “multiple law enforcement officials” say Woods and his wife fought before the car crash. Days earlier, rumors surfaced that Woods was having an affair.
UPDATE, 6:13 PM: Windermere Police Chief Daniel Saylor says that Woods’ wife Elin Nordegren smashed the SUV open with a golf club to get Woods out of the vehicle. Click here for more.
Early Friday morning, pro golfer Tiger Woods was in an accident involving his SUV. As reported earlier, the police report regarding the wreck indicates Woods pulled out of his driveway, struck a fire hydrant, which caused his vehicle to hit a tree.
The incident occurred at about 2:25 a.m. and he was alone in the vehicle. Woods was taken to a hospital, treated, and released later on Friday. At the time, reports indicated he received facial lacerations from the accident.
TMZ is now reporting that a source has revealed that Woods’ wife, Elin Nordegren, had confronted him about seeing another woman prior to the SUV crash and caused his facial injuries.
The source claims Woods revealed that his wife “scratched up his face.” After the alleged domestic altercation, Woods apparently headed for his vehicle as Elin followed close behind with a golf club. According to TMZ, she struck the SUV several times.
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[12:15 p.m. - 11/28/2009] – Police To Probe Tiger Woods Car Crash
From the Associated Press:
There are plenty of vivid details from the car crash that sent Tiger Woods to the hospital:
His SUV hit a fire hydrant and a tree; his lips were cut and he had blood in his mouth; his wife smashed a rear window with a golf club to get him out; and he lost consciousness for about six minutes, according to a police report obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.
There are also plenty of questions, among them:
Where was he going at 2:25 a.m. Friday? Why was there no word from the Woods’ camp for nearly 13 hours after the accident?
Police hope Woods can answer some of them Saturday.
Two troopers tried to talk to the world’s No. 1 golfer Friday evening, but his wife said he was sleeping and they agreed to come back Saturday, Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Kim Montes said.
According to the patrol, Woods had just left his Florida mansion when he lost control of his 2009 Cadillac and hit a fire hydrant, then a tree on his neighbor’s property. The report said alcohol was not a factor.
The patrol reported the accident occurred at 2:25 a.m. Friday morning and classified the injuries as serious. The first word from Woods’ camp — some 13 hours after the crash — was that it was a “minor accident,” and he was in good condition after being treated and released.
Windermere police chief Daniel Saylor told The Associated Press that officers found the 33-year-old PGA star laying in the street with his wife, Elin, hovering over him.
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.”
Woods had lacerations to his upper and lower lips, and he had blood in his mouth, Saylor said.
The chief said Woods was in and out of consciousness when his two officers arrived. He said the officers held Woods to the ground and “when he woke up, he tried to get up and lost consciousness.”
He said officers treated Woods for 10 minutes until an ambulance arrived.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 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.
Windermere police chief Daniel Saylor said his two officers found the 33-year-old Woods 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.”
Saylor said Woods’ wife told officers she was in the house when she heard the accident and “broke the back window with a golf club.” He said 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, though the police chief said Woods didn’t say anything coherent.
In a telephone interview, Woods’ father-in-law, radio journalist Thomas Nordegren, told The Associated Press in Stockholm that he would not discuss the accident.
“I haven’t spoken to her in the last few … “ Nordegren said about his daughter, Elin, before cutting himself off. “I don’t want to go into that.”
Woods’ mother-in-law Barbro Holmberg also refused to address the matter.
“She doesn’t want to comment on private issues like these,” Holmberg’s spokeswoman Eva Malmborg said.
Damage to the front of Woods’ SUV was described by Saylor as “not real extensive, but not real light.”
Left unanswered was where Woods was going at that hour. His agent, Mark Steinberg, and spokesman Glenn Greenspan said there would be no comment beyond the short statement of the accident posted Friday afternoon on Woods’ Web site that said:
“Tiger Woods was in a minor car accident outside his home last night. He was admitted, treated and released today in good condition. We appreciate very much everyone’s thoughts and well wishes.”
Asked at an evening news conference if the couple could have been arguing, Saylor said he had no knowledge of that. The couple, married five years, have two children.
The accident came two days after the National Enquirer published a story alleging that Woods had been seeing a New York night club hostess, and that they recently were together in Melbourne, where Woods competed in the Australian Masters.
The woman, Rachel Uchitel, denied having an affair with Woods when contacted by the AP.
“I resent my reputation is getting completely blasted in the media,” she said during a telephone interview late Friday. “Everyone is assuming I came out and said this. This is not a story I have anything to do with.”
Uchitel said she was in Melbourne two weeks ago with clients and never saw Woods the entire time she was there.
A representative of the National Enquirer declined comment.
“Right now we believe this is a traffic crash,” Montes said. “We don’t believe it is a domestic issue.”
The Florida Highway Patrol said tapes of the 911 call won’t be released until they can be reviewed, probably Monday at the earliest. Montes said the accident report was not issued for 12 hours because it did not meet the criteria of a serious crash, and the FHP only released information because of inquiries from local media.
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.
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.
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 has won 82 times around the world and 14 majors, becoming the first player of black heritage to win a major at the 1997 Masters when he was 21. He 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.
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[7:11 p.m. - 11/27/2009] – Tiger Woods’ Wife Helped Him Out Of Car After Accident
Tiger Woods was injured in a car accident early Friday outside his Florida mansion, and a local police chief said his wife used a golf club to smash out the back window and help get the world’s No. 1 golfer out of the SUV.
Woods 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 as he pulled out of his driveway at 2:25 a.m.
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[3:00 p.m. - 11/27/2009] – Tiger Woods Seriously Injured In Car Accident
From the Orlando Sentinel:
Professional golfer Tiger Woods was seriously injured in a car accident early this morning, the Florida Highway Patrol just reported.
Woods, 33, pulled out of his driveway in the Isleworth community about 2:25 a.m. when he struck a fire hydrant, and then drove into a tree at his neighbor’s property, FHP reported.
Woods was transported to Health Central Hospital in Ocoee in serious condition, FHP said. No other information about his condition has been released.
UPDATE: Officials close to accident investigation told the Orlando Sentinel that Tiger Woods received facial lacerations in the accident.
A Health Central hospital employee said at 2:30 p.m. that Woods was not a patient. A hospital operator would not say if Woods had been treated and released.
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