Tiger injured in minor car accident

WORLD number one golfer Tiger Woods suffered minor injuries in a car crash outside his home in Florida, his office confirmed last night.

The 33-year-old star pulled out of his driveway, struck a fire hydrant, and then drove into a tree at his neighbour’s property at about 2.25am local time (7.25am Irish time), the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) said.

He was taken to Health Central Hospital in Ocoee where he was “admitted, treated and released in good condition”, a joint statement by his office and the hospital said.

His agent, Mark Steinberg, told CNBC the golfer was “fine”.

Gary Bruhn, the Mayor of Windermere, Florida, told CNN the golfer suffered facial lacerations.

Bruhn, whose police department responded to the incident, said: “An accident occurred about 2.30 this morning and Windermere police were first upon the scene because basically we’re right there and can arrive within a minute and a half.

“I understand that there were some facial lacerations and he was taken to Health Central Hospital where he was treated and then I’m told he was released.”

He said he did not know the specifics of the incident but added that the fact that charges were pending was a routine part of any accident investigation.

“Something like this would be just an ongoing investigation,” he said.

“I think it’s nothing more than an accident but from that standpoint they’ve got to let everything run its full course and do the investigation to see what was involved.

“I’m told that could take a number of days to come to its conclusion.”

Bruhn added there was nothing about the situation which appeared unusual.

The PGA star was driving a 2009 Cadillac sport utility vehicle when he crashed outside his £1.5 million (€1.64m) home in a gated waterfront community in Isleworth, Florida, the FHP said.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that the airbags in the car did not deploy, which it said suggested that the vehicle was travelling at less than 33mph.

Woods’ website said he was due to start the campaign for his fifth Chevron World Challenge title on Tuesday. Woods, the host, won the event in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2007 but missed last year’s tournament while recovering from knee surgery.