Los Angeles, California authorities said there was no evidence golf legend Tiger Woods was impaired at the time of the car crash that left him seriously hurt. The ‘‘jaws of life’ were not used to extract the golfer, they noted.
Woods was “calm and lucid” when Deputy Carlos Gonzalez found him in the overturned vehicle on Tuesday morning, the responding officer told reporters at a press conference later in the day.
He was not able to stand on his own power, and was extracted from the car by a LA County Fire crew, Gonzalez added.
Fire Chief Daryl Osby said his men did not use the “jaws of life” to cut the car open, as the sheriff’s office initially said, but used “halligan” pry bars and standard-issue axes instead.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva noted that Woods and his manager “did not want to release anything on his condition right now.” Chief Osby only said that Woods suffered “serious leg injuries” that were “not life-threatening.” He did refer to “broken legs” at one point, however.
Osby did say that Woods was not so serious a condition to require evacuation by a helicopter to the closest hospital, but was driven to the hospital best equipped to handle his injuries, a little farther away.
Deputies checked the car for any traces of alcohol or other substance but there was “no immediate evidence” of any, Sheriff Villanueva said. For now, the authorities are suspecting the problem was a steep bit of Hawthorne Boulevard between Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes, upscale communities on the southern end of Los Angeles.
“That specific stretch of roadway is one of our trouble spots,” Deputy Gonzalez told reporters.
Woods was in town to present the trophy at the Genesis Invitational tournament, and was filming a show for GOLFTV with several celebrities on Monday and Tuesday. He was driving a courtesy car when he crashed.
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