Tiger Woods' slightly injured in car mishap (Roundup)

Nov 27, 2009, 21:56 GMT

A file picture dated 24 January 2008 of Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines at the Buick Invitational in San Diego, California, USA. Golf luminary Tiger Woods was seriously injured on 27 November 2009 in a car accident in central Florida, Fox News Florida affiliate reported. EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT

Washington - Golf luminary Tiger Woods, the world's leading professional golfer and most widely recognized athlete, was slightly injured Friday in an early morning one-car accident just outside his home near Orlando, Florida.

He was was treated at a nearby hospital after a 'minor car accident outside his home' before being released, his publicist and the Health Central Hospital where he was taken said in a joint statement.

'He was admitted, treated and released today in good condition,' they said.

Woods, the world's top earning sportsman who revolutionized sports marketing, had returned to the greens with triumph earlier this year after being out of commission for nearly a year from knee surgery.

The first police reports about the 2 am accident indicated that Woods, 33, had suffered serious injuries, triggering a cascade of urgents on cable TV.

But then Gary Bruhn, mayor of Windermere, Florida, whose police force also responded to the accident, told CNN that Woods had suffered only 'facial lacerations.'

'Basically it was facial lacerations and as I am understanding it, nothing that serious,' Bruhn said.

Susan Jackson, senior vice president at Health Central Hospital, said in broadcast remarks that the accident was considered 'minor' because Woods 'was able to go home today.'

She declined to describe his injuries.

The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), as the state police are known, told local media that Woods' car, a 2009 SUV-style Escalade, first hit a fire hydrant and then a nearby tree as he was driving on the circle outside his home in Isleworth, Florida.

Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) officers were investigating and charges were pending, the Sentinel reported. CNN and Fox News reported that police indicated alcohol was not involved in the accident.

The FHP could not be reached for comment.

The officers said that the airbags in Woods' Cadillac had not deployed, which meant that Woods was travelling slower than 53 kph.