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.

Tiger Accident Reporting: Who Goofed, I've Got To Know!

Okay here's what we know: 

Tiger has a minor accident at 2:25 a.m. EST and is transported to the hospital soon thereafter.

AP sends out a breaking news alert via text noting serious injuries and charges pending around 2:30 p.m. EST, a full 12 hours after the accident.

Here's the headline on their first story and text:

Tiger Woods injured in car accident outside his Fla. home; highway patrol says charges pending

And the story itself:

Turns out, the report is seriously flawed and Tiger has a cut or cuts, no bruises and was released shortly after treatment.

GolfDigest.com noted the time elapse between accident and news:

The accident happened at 2:25 a.m., though the FHP did not release the accident report until nearly 12 hours later.

Unfortunately, the first and more serious report goes out on wires, text messages and is even scene in Times Square, reports a reader.

Now, when I get such an alert from AP I expect it to be a fairly conservative approach to the reporting, particularly that many hours after the accident. They clearly based their story on the accident report and with little on-site reporting and no comment from authorities or Tiger's company.

It would be easy to blame AP for jumping the gun, but here we are at 5:15 EST and only now do we have a posting on his website that was also seen on CNN:

From Health Central Hospital and Tiger's Woods' office:

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.

So was this "scare" and minor story gone awry a product of...

A) jump-the-gun reporting by AP?

B) a slow and unorganized response from Team Tiger?

C) the holiday with top reporters and Team Tiger members simply vacationing and unable to respond more quickly and efficiently?

Either way, a strange series of events. 

Tiger "Seriously Injured" In Car Accident***

Ugh. Details are sketchy but obviously, we hope he's going to be okay soon.

Update on 2009-11-27 22:55 by Geoff

** Orlando Sentinel's story is here, sure to be updated as details emerge about his condition.

***Windermere Mayor on CNN reporting Tiger has been released from the hospital, good news. "Charges pending" is standard operating procedure, not a statement about anything that might have happened.

****Agent Steinberg reports Tiger is "fine" to CNBC's Darren Rovell on Twitter.

*****Golfweek quotes Hank Haney as saying Tiger is ok.

******The Orlando Sentinel's Amy L. Edwards and Henry Pierson Curtis offer this:

Inside the gated Isleworth community, a security guard was standing post outside the front of Woods' $2.4 million home. A woman who answered the door at the home at mid-afternoon declined to answer questions from the Sentinel.

A black Cadillac SUV was sitting in the driveway. FHP said Woods was driving a black Cadillac SUV at the time of the crash.

There were almost no signs of an accident at Woods' home and his next door neighbor's.

An orange-and-white street barricade sat on Woods' front lawn atop a newly dug hole, presumably where the fire hydrant previously sat.

About 10 feet away, a foot-long tire mark was visible in the neighbor's yard near a tree with freshly damaged bark. That oak tree had a few scuff marks on its trunk but was largely undamaged.

Tiger Lexicon Grows...

...or is it jargon?

After his wild-off-the-tee third round:

"I was spinning the ball quite a bit with the driver today and I didn't quite have it right," he said.

Spinning=spraying, no?

And after winning, talking to Australian TV about what he did to get things squared away around round three and in preparation for the final round:

"I did some rehearsals last night and felt very comfortable with what I was going to do today."

Rehearsals=hitting balls?

Any others you've heard?

Australian Masters Opening Day Telecast Thoughts

What a delight watching Kingston Heath during round one of the JB Were Australian Masters.  Tiger Woods posted a 66 in front of huge crowds and we were treated to several hours on Golf Channel here in the U.S.  Not only is the golf course so lovely to look at, but the flow of the telecast was far different than what we're used to hear in the States.

A few things about the broadcast stood out:

- Camera angles. Perhaps they were forced to have some alternatives, but a few holes featured a nice side view look at a green instead of the standard rear tower. It added variety and gave us a better sense of the architecture.

- No promos. It's amazing how much better the telecast flowed without the relentless plugs for NCIS and reality shows and...

- Made the announcing so much more enjoyable. Particularly the Ian Baker-Finch/Brett Ogle portions. Not having to read so many plugs allowed them to engage in some informative discussions about how holes had changed thanks to technology, what a great job Mike Clayton did adding the 11th hole (and why), and overall the better flow lent a relaxed, welcoming tone that made the telecast feel like we were merely listening in on a conversation among knowledgeable fans. IBF also ably explained the strategy behind some of the holes as we were treated to graphic flyovers.

- Focusing on two groups. What a joy to really study one group primarily (Badds, Appleby, Coltart) with select shots from others like Adam Scott and Matthew Goggin. This allowed us to take a tour of the course (aided by those great hole graphics) and to see a nice variety of shots, not just an onslaught of putts. Baddelay was all over the place, but his swing looks sensational and you get the sense he's making progress. Getting to see so much of his round made for more interesting viewing, even though he wasn't playing that well.

Not surprisingly, the golf course also came off beautifully. The sparse and dry roughs, the lay of the land feel of the holes and those wondrous bunkers jutting into greens with so little rough between the two: perfection!

For those who watched, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

"I'm tired of Tiger Woods. Just totally fed up with him."

John Huggan is tired of Tiger Woods. Off the course.

For a man who has never been known to give up with a club in his hands -- one of his most admirable qualities -- the world's best golfer appears to do little more than go through the motions when it comes to his obligations elsewhere. And yes, obligations is the correct word; Tiger earns a lot of money from playing golf in public. One would think he'd try to give a bit more of himself to the people who ultimately fund his opulent jet-set lifestyle.

Take his pre-tournament press conference at this week's JBWere Masters in Melbourne. OK, so the whole thing was a bit of a farce, from the tedious and self-serving seven-and-a-half-minute monologue from John Brumby, the Premier of Victoria -- your typically vacuous and preening politician -- to the totally un-cool rounds of applause that both preceded and ended the proceedings. But, as per usual, Tiger (who more than once appeared to be on the point of nodding off during Brumby's bletherings) batted back questions, good, bad, tough and softball, with responses that at best could be described as predictable.

While I see Mr. Huggan's point, he forgets that America loves the non-answer, non-controversial, safe, middle of the road star. Frankly, I admire Tiger for detecting this and milking it to his financial advantage. It takes a lot of will power to pull it off!