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    Lines of Charm: Brilliant And Irreverent Quotes, Notes, And Anecdotes from Golf's Golden Age Architects
  • The Future of Golf: How Golf Lost Its Way and How to Get It Back
    The Future of Golf: How Golf Lost Its Way and How to Get It Back
    by Geoff Shackelford
  • Grounds for Golf: The History and Fundamentals of Golf Course Design
    Grounds for Golf: The History and Fundamentals of Golf Course Design
    by Geoff Shackelford
  • The Art of Golf Design
    The Art of Golf Design
    by Michael Miller, Geoff Shackelford
  • Alister MacKenzie's Cypress Point Club
    Alister MacKenzie's Cypress Point Club
    by Geoff Shackelford
  • The Golden Age of Golf Design
    The Golden Age of Golf Design
    by Geoff Shackelford
  • The Good Doctor Returns: A Novel
    The Good Doctor Returns: A Novel
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  • Masters of the Links: Essays on the Art of Golf and Course Design
    Masters of the Links: Essays on the Art of Golf and Course Design
  • The Captain: George C. Thomas Jr. and His Golf Architecture
    The Captain: George C. Thomas Jr. and His Golf Architecture
    by Geoff Shackelford
  • The Riviera Country Club: A Definitive History
    The Riviera Country Club: A Definitive History
    by Geoff Shackelford
Current Reading
  • The American Private Golf Club Guide
    The American Private Golf Club Guide
    by Daniel Wexler
  • Unplayable: An Inside Account of Tiger's Most Tumultuous Season
    Unplayable: An Inside Account of Tiger's Most Tumultuous Season
    by Robert Lusetich
  • Cracking the Code: The Winning Ryder Cup Strategy: Make It Work for You
    Cracking the Code: The Winning Ryder Cup Strategy: Make It Work for You
    by Paul Azinger, Dr. Ron Braund
  • The Story of Golf, Official 2010 Edition
    The Story of Golf, Official 2010 Edition
  • Swinging from My Heels: Confessions of an LPGA Star
    Swinging from My Heels: Confessions of an LPGA Star
    by Christina Kim, Alan Shipnuck
  • Fifty More Places to Play Golf Before You Die: Golf Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations (Fifty Places Series)
    Fifty More Places to Play Golf Before You Die: Golf Experts Share the World's Greatest Destinations (Fifty Places Series)
    by Chris Santella

    Follow up includes yours truly nominating Rustic Canyon. Shocking, I know.

  • Sports Illustrated The Golf Book
    Sports Illustrated The Golf Book
    by Editors of Sports Illustrated
  • Planet Golf USA: The Definitive Reference to Great Golf Courses in America
    Planet Golf USA: The Definitive Reference to Great Golf Courses in America
    by Darius Oliver

    The highly anticipated second volume comes to America for more design analysis and stunning photography.

  • Jenkins at the Majors: Sixty Years of the World's Best Golf Writing, from Hogan to Tiger
    Jenkins at the Majors: Sixty Years of the World's Best Golf Writing, from Hogan to Tiger
    by Dan Jenkins
  • The 19th Hole: Architecture of the Golf Clubhouse
    The 19th Hole: Architecture of the Golf Clubhouse
    by Richard Diedrich

    SI Golf Plus calls this the #1 golf book of 2008.

  • World Atlas of Golf: The Greatest Courses and How They are Played
    World Atlas of Golf: The Greatest Courses and How They are Played
    by Mark Rowlinson

    New and updated, including contributions from Ran Morrissett and Daniel Wexler.

Classics
  • The Book Of Golfers: A Biographical History Of The Royal & Ancient Game
    The Book Of Golfers: A Biographical History Of The Royal & Ancient Game
    by Daniel Wexler


  • A Season In Dornoch: Golf and Life in the Scottish Highlands
    A Season In Dornoch: Golf and Life in the Scottish Highlands
    by Lorne Ruberstein

    A summer in Dornoch.

  • Emerald Gems:The Links of Ireland
    Emerald Gems:The Links of Ireland
    by Laurence Casey Lambrecht

    Beautiful images of the classic Irish links.

  • Golf Architecture in America: Its Strategy and Construction
    Golf Architecture in America: Its Strategy and Construction
    by Geo. C. Thomas
  • The Spirit of St. Andrews
    The Spirit of St. Andrews
    by Alister MacKenzie
  • Club Life: The Games Golfers Play
    Club Life: The Games Golfers Play
    by John Steinbreder
  • Discovering Donald Ross: The Architect and his Golf Courses
    Discovering Donald Ross: The Architect and his Golf Courses
    by Bradley S. Klein
  • Evangelist of Golf: The Story of Charles Blair MacDonald
    Evangelist of Golf: The Story of Charles Blair MacDonald
    by George Bahto
  • The Course Beautiful : A Collection of Original Articles and Photographs on Golf Course Design
    The Course Beautiful : A Collection of Original Articles and Photographs on Golf Course Design
    Treewolf Prod
  • Reminiscences Of The Links
    Reminiscences Of The Links
    by Albert Warren Tillinghast, Richard C. Wolffe, Robert S. Trebus, Stuart F. Wolffe
  • Gleanings from the Wayside
    Gleanings from the Wayside
    by Albert Warren Tillinghast
  • The Missing Links: America's Greatest Lost Golf Courses & Holes
    The Missing Links: America's Greatest Lost Golf Courses & Holes
    by Daniel Wexler
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« "Plenty left to explain" | Main | Tiger Story: Okay, This Is Spiraling... »
Friday
Nov272009

Woods Accident Clippings, Vol. 1

Henry Pierson Curtis and Willoughby Mariano of the Orlando Sentinel expanded on their earlier reporting and write:

Tiger Woods' wife used a golf club to smash a window of his Cadillac Escalade and get her injured husband out of the SUV after he crashed into a fire hydrant and tree early Friday morning outside his Isleworth mansion, Windermere Mayor Gary Bruhn said.

In addition, a call report compiled by the Orange County Sheriff's Office and obtained by the Orlando Sentinel indicated Woods was unconscious but breathing when officers arrived on the scene. Woods was unconscious for about six minutes.

Yet there was this from Doug Ferguson's initial story:

Woods spokesman Glenn Greenspan said the golfer was treated at Health Central Hospital and released in good condition. The accident report classified Woods' injuries as serious, but patrol spokeswoman Kim Montes said troopers consider the injuries serious if they require more than minor medical attention.

Out here in kick-back California when an accident victim reportedly loses consciousness from any hint of a head injury, they're required to undergo intensive medical evaluation for a significant period of time. Is it different in Florida?

Ferguson later followed up with a more detailed story:

Windermere police chief Daniel Saylor told The Associated Press that officers found the 33-year-old PGA star 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."

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," he said, adding that 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, he said.

"He was mumbling, but didn't say anything coherent," Saylor said.

A quartet of reporters for the Wall Street Journal--accompanied by a graphic showing the accident route--sounded a bit skeptical of the Elin-grabs-185-pound-man-from-wreckage tale:

"She said, 'I had to take a golf club and break the window to get him out,'" the police chief said. He said a window was broken at the rear of the SUV, but that he couldn't explain exactly how she managed to remove Mr. Woods, who was taken to a local hospital.

They are even more skeptical at Deadspin:

That's why she smashed the back window of the SUV — the gallons of water violently gushing into the vehicle could have killed him instantly had she gone through the front windshield or tried to, you know, get Tiger to unlock the driver's side door. She needed to climb through the back, grab her 200lb. husband by the collar and drag him to safety. Time was of the essence.

A GolfDigest.com staff report also raises this point:

Left unanswered was where Woods was going at that hour. Greenspan and agent Mark Steinberg said there would be no comment beyond the short statement of the accident posted on Woods' Web site.

Saylor said his responding officers did not hear anything about an alleged argument between Woods and his wife.

"Right now we believe this is a traffic crash. We don't believe it is domestic issue," patrol spokesman Sgt. Kim Montes said.

TMZ says the description of the events is fiction and that the Woods wounds were caused by a domestic dispute, with the whole Mutual of Omaha ad tale featuring Elin rescuing a semi-conscious Tiger a total fabrication:

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.

We're also told Woods had said during the conversation Friday he had been taking prescription pain medication for an injury, which could explain why he seemed somewhat out of it at the scene.

The Sentinel report notes that the Woods' have not spoken to accident investigators from the Florida Highway Patrol yet:

FHP troopers arrived at the Woods' home early Friday evening to talk to the golfer, FHP spokeswoman Kim Montes said. Woods wife told them Woods was resting and asked them to return Saturday morning. They agreed.

"People's health comes first," Montes said, noting that it is routine to agree to return to conduct an interview.

The sheriff's office would not identify who dialed 911, and emergency audio tapes were not available on Friday.

No matter what happened, it appears Tiger is going to be okay and the frightening early reports were incorrect. As expected, several journalists noted that the timing of the accident was either cruelly coincidental or linked to tabloid reports. Lawrence Donegan in The Guardian:

The accident involving the famously private man – he named his yacht "Privacy" – came on the day that allegations about his private life were published by the supermarket tabloid, the National Enquirer. Nordegren is a former model from Sweden and the couple have two children, Sam, aged five, and Charlie, aged two. He is due to travel to California next week to host his own event, the Chevron World Challenge. That now seems unlikely.

Steve Elling for CBSSports.com:

In a 24-hour span that landed Woods on the front of the gossip and metro sections for all the wrong reasons, he was accused of cheating on his wife in a front-page tabloid headline, then crashed his car into a tree a few yards from his Isleworth mansion early Friday morning at 2:25 a.m.

If that's what Thanksgiving is like, give him 364 days of playing alongside Phil Mickelson anytime.

Mark Reason reviews the last few months of Tiger's life and asks:

What's eating Tiger Woods? For the past few months he has been flouncing around tournaments like a spoiled child. Now he has left his house in the early hours of the morning and had a stand up row with a fire hydrant and a tree. We knew Tiger's driving was wayward these days, but he usually manages to at least stay on the property.

There are now bound to be questions about Tiger's private life. Tiger's entourage has maintained a stiff upper lip, but if all is well at home, where was Woods off to in the early hours of Friday morning? That's the question that Tiger will now have to answer.

And Bob Harig for ESPN.com:

A lot of questions remain unanswered right now, some that certainly raise eyebrows given the time of day of the accident, the varying reports of damage to Woods' car, the report his wife, Elin, had to smash a window to get him out of a car in which the airbags did not deploy.

So far, in a pro career that dates to 1996, the only hint of scandal involving Woods usually has centered around his propensity to use profanity on the golf course.

Whether or not this turns into anything more is unclear, but the entire scenario is but another example of what a big deal Woods is in the game, and how much it is altered if he is not around.

And as for the woman at the center accusations of having an affair with Woods, The New York Daily News communicated with her via Facebook and they write:

Uchitel, a former party planner who has worked as a VIP hostess at swanky nightspots, denied it in a message sent to The News from her Facebook account.

"There is NO relationship with tiger these girls quoted in the story are not being truthful," she wrote.
"I resent my name being slung thru the mud."

The Enquirer story - and a similar story in Star - quoted a woman named Ashley Samson and said she was friends with Uchitel and passed a polygraph.

"I did not say those things to those 'sources' and im not friends with ashley simpson or whatever her name is," Uchitel insisted.

Waggle Room's Ryan Ballengee also talked to Rachel Uchitel, who denied the National Enquirer story:

Uchitel and I spoke on the phone on Friday evening to get her side of the story concerning the Enquirer article despite "not [being] supposed to talk much about this yet."

Uchitel vehemently and patently denied the allegations made in the Enquirer piece.  In fact, Uchitel told Waggle Room that she spoke to the Enquirer for the piece - and her quotes were not published.

"My quotes were not even run [by the Enquirer]," Uchitel said.  "Their story was not even close to the conversation that we had."

The New York City native is the Director of VIP services for Pink Elephant, a company that specializes in the nightclub scene in the Big Apple.  Uchitel told me that the story runs contradictory to what her job entails.

"As part of my job, I have to keep many secrets about celebrities, so for [the Enquirer to report] me as going around telling people about something like this doesn't make sense."  Uchitel added, "I'm not that big of an idiot."

Uchitel also talked to two more publications to deny the accusations and it was the New York Post who reminds us that it was Uchitel who so tragically is remembered for photographs on 9/11 in search of her missing fiance.

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Reader Comments (36)

Didn't Tiger once say he only needs 4 or 5 hours sleep a night? In bed by 10. Heading, er, night scuba diving by 2:30. Nothing to see here. Move on.
11.27.2009 | Unregistered CommenterBoyer
I don't know what happened (and I don't really care to know), but the official story doesn't sound very plausible. I'm just glad he's OK.
11.27.2009 | Unregistered CommenterGreg
If anyone saw Christine Brennan of USA Today on CNN tonight, she seemed to be saying the sports press is tired of being seen as Tiger's lackeys and they will actually pursue this story even if -- horrors -- it doesn't play out exactly as Team Tiger would like it to.
11.27.2009 | Unregistered CommenterSqueaky
I hope this story doesn't overshadow the World Cup of Golf.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterJosh
It's obvious (and somewhat disappointing) that only TMZ has a plausible sequence of events. None of the other scenarios and reports make much sense, unfortunately.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterTomo
Maybe he was headed to the 7-11 to get a copies of the tabloids.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterPapa Bing
If Glenn Greenspan was bored as spokesman for Augusta National Golf Club ... now he's going to have to do some real work! This should be whole lot more interesting than announcing to the booger picking golf writers of the world that four new pine trees have been added to some dumb fairway!
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterJeff Speasy
Miss Brennan was the reporter who got Hootie all agitated during the Martha Burke thing in 2003. It'll be fun to see if she comes through. What is yo question! What ... is yo question!
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterMiss Priss
As for everyone dismissing the Enguirer as just a scurilous grocery store rag, remember that it was the Enquirer that broke the John Edwards affair story. You might not respect what they do (I certainly don't), but Tiger and Co. might want to respect a little bit more how good they are at doing it. If not, he might be only halfway to becoming sports first billionaire after all.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterFWIW
Papa Bing - that thought crossed my mind too...be a lot easier to help explain it if you can flip three pages past the story and find something about Brad and Angie adopting French Canadian quintuplets.

While the TMZ timeline makes me laugh, I'm gonna wait until a little more reputable source comes forward. Trusting TMZ is like trusting...well...the Enquirer.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterReverendTMac
If Elin did use a golf club, the question is: Did Steve give it to her or did she pull it herself? I'm glad Tiger is fine and I hope the rampant speculation is wrong.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterWayne
In these kind of situations TMZ is usually correct. Sounds like wife got mad Tiger jumps in car wife smashes window Tiger freaked and hit hydrant. Now let's see what Team Tiger comes up with . Unless Tiger was drunk then story could be different.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterVwgolfer
There are many questions at a time like this, but none troubles me more than this:

What club did she pull?

I hope we can all agree that the preferred club for the situation is a nine iron.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterSqueaky
He was night-putting... night-putting with the daughter of the dean.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterMr. Wonderful
Frankly I'm inclined to believe TMZ at this point. Most people have feet of clay- even superstars.
Also- why is Woods on prescription pain killers?
11.28.2009 | Unregistered Commenterjjshaka
She broke the glass in the back of the car ? She must have been using inferior equipment.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterJPH
---Has Tiger ever really had a chance to grow up? I'd venture to answer no.
---Kudos to the Orlando Sentinel for not covering a PGA Tour event in their own backyard but swarming on this story. Golf says thank you.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterCrosby's Pipe
Oops forgot one---I'm sure this all going to make Tiger that much more media friendly. Not.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterCrosby's Pipe
In Florida, a fiive iron is the choice of weapon for going after snakes. Lucky she had one nearby!

Also expect it was OnStar that called emergency personnel to the accident site, not Mrs. Woods. Hard to contain technology today!
I don't think OnStar is alerted unless the airbags deploy.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterTaylor Anderson
Either he concocts a story and tries to sweep this all under the rug or comes clean. Which will happen:
1) Press conference saying everything fine featuring his supportive wife at his side?
2) Press conf. admitting problems w/o wife asking for privacy as they deal with this?

Will be feeding frenzy at his tourney next week, if he shows up. Anyone expecting a W/D? They tabloids will not be blown off as easy as the golf press.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterTiger's strategy
Jay Flemma also got an interview with Uchitel. Pretty good work and fast.

http://jayflemma.thegolfspace.com/?p=2291
11.28.2009 | Unregistered Commentertedr
This is more fun than the Fed Ex Cup
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterVwgolfer
Wondering if Larry Dorman is up to this story.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterSqueaky
Re- Not going to happen.
I remember the OnStar commercial where Tiger was going to use an iron to break into his SUV until they unlocked it.
I smell a sequel.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered Commenterjjshaka
Dorman has handed off to Liz Robbins at the Times. Could be a weekend/holiday staffing thing. Or could be he prefers to play good cop on the Tiger beat, protecting his access to the trickle of nothingness that comes from Team Tiger, letting someone else burn bridges and cover the news.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterSqueaky
I don't have all the answers, but I find the state-run media's silence on what could easily be found on this blog (and many others) concerning a possible affair stupifying in the least and very troubling at the most--how can they miss this and get at the truth? But I find that they do this all the time . . .
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterSmitty
what is "state-run media?"

does anyone else think the windermere pd may not have been the most objective cops to handle this episode? i am not convinced that alcohol was not involved.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered Commenterthusgone
No joke: Crisis of confidence over at the The First Church of Tiger Woods (somewhat serious site run by heart-on-his-sleeve right wing talk show host John Ziegler).

http://www.tigerwoodsisgod.com/blog/
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterSqueaky
This sounds like an old joke to me.

Police : "How many times did you hit him, Mrs. Woods?"
Elin (sobbing): "I don't know -- five, six or seven times -- just put me down for a five."
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterHod
Nobody's ever won four majors after an experience like this - Jack, exhale. Your major record will be safe for eternity.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterHawkeye
didn't daly win one after the drunken domestic violence incident with bettye fulford?
11.28.2009 | Unregistered Commenterthusgone
Will the lovefest for Tiger end if found to be a cheater off the course? Will Nike stand by their man? And what will Peter Kostis have to say?
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterVwgolfer
Hawkeye,

Hope you are right about Jack's record surviving, but wouldn't bet on it.

I used to be a Tiger fan and pulled for him to break all the records, but not anymore.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered Commenterdbcooper
If it's true that Elin took a golf club to the SUV in anger, then it's a good thing for Tiger that he's a golfer and not an archer or marksman.
11.28.2009 | Unregistered CommenterWayne
Does Rachel have an escort service?
11.29.2009 | Unregistered CommenterBuck

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