Tiger Woods and his SUV took a horrific tumble down a Los Angeles area hill more than a week ago. He is alive and reportedly doing as well as expected.
He faces months of rehabilitation before walking with a usual gait. Competitive golf? Maybe never again.
The year 2000, when Woods dominated the PGA Tour unlike any golfer before him, is more than two decades ago. Today it seems like 200 years ago.
Authorities are saying he is lucky to be alive. He is saying thank you to all his well-wishers and fans.
You might want to look up in your Cedars-Sinai Medical Center hospital bed or stare out the window and thank God, Tiger.
Woods suffered multiple right leg injuries including open fractures in the tibia and fibula bones, and extensive ankle and foot damage. He has gone through two rounds of surgical procedures. There will be more.
He was first admitted to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center after being transported by ambulance after the crash. Doctors inserted a rod into his leg and pins and screws into his foot and ankle to stabilize them, the centers chief medical officer said.
For what each person might think of him, Woods is part of most of our lives. Had he died Tuesday morning, February 23, it truly would have been a tragedy.
My advice to Tiger Woods today is the same I would have given him two weeks, two years or two decades ago.
“Hey man. Slow down.”
Tiger Talks
Woods’ first public comment following his one-car accident came after several golfers donned a red shirt and black pants during last Sunday’s round of the WGC-Workday Championship in Florida.
“It is hard to explain how touching today was when I turned on the tv and saw all the red shirts,” he wrote on Twitter.
“To every golfer and every fan, you are truly helping me get through this tough time.”
Earlier last week, a statement was posted on behalf of Woods, saying “he was in good spirits.”
Another read, “Tiger and his family want to thank you all for the wonderful support and messages they have received over the past few days.”
While the world is talking, guessing and speculating, I doubt we will hear a lot more from Woods in the next few weeks.
The Woods Roundup
Barely a day had passed before Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said his department would not file charges against Woods in connection with the crash. “He was not drunk. We can throw that one out.” My question is, ‘how did he know?’ Was there a toxicology report?… In comparison, Britt Reid, son head coach Andy Reid and Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach, hit a vehicle on Thursday, Feb. 4 leaving a 5-year-old girl in a coma. He admitted drinking beer sometime before the accident. The results of his blood and toxicology tests had not been released as of Tuesday morning…Woods’ 2021 Genesis GV80 SUV had to be traveling at a high rate of speed to roll more than 700 feet before cascading down an embankment. This is more than two football fields in length and the Gateway Arch is 630 feet tall… The Sheriff’s Department said the downhill section of road where the rollover occurred “is known for a high frequency of accidents.”… For those who still refuse to wear a seatbelt, let Woods’ crash be a lesson to you. He was wearing his and it almost certainly saved his life… Kobe Bryant died in a L.A. area helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020. Woods’ horrific accident was 13 months later. Had Woods not survived, he would have passed away during Black History Month… After hosting his Genesis Tournament in the L.A. area Feb. 18-21, Woods remained in the L.A. area to film a Discovery series featuring him instructing celebrities on their respective golf games. The Monday before the crash, he worked with actor David Spade, actress Jada Pinkett Smith and former NBA star Dwyane Wade. The day of the crash, NFL quarterbacks Drew Brees and Justin Herbert were awaiting Woods’ arrival to tape another installment… I still held a belief that Woods could find his way back to great gold and make a late 40s-early 50s push to win a couple more Major tournaments. That dream seems to be over now.
