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On Wednesday, more than a month after Tiger Woods was seriously injured in a high-speed rollover crash, the Los Angeles County sheriff announced that the world’s most famous golfer was driving nearly double the posted speed limit before the accident occurred. Woods was reportedly not impaired that morning of Feb. 23 and he claims to have no recollection of the moments leading up to the crash in which he was the sole occupant.
Authorities say Woods clocked between 84 and 87 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone while behind the wheel of a Genesis GV80 loaner. As explained by Sheriff Alex Villanueva and other members of law enforcement, this conclusion was reached after investigators examined the car’s onboard data systems. A search warrant was obtained for this, though they did not seek out a warrant for Woods himself to collect a blood sample. LA County Deputy Carlos Gonzalez, the lead crash investigator for this case, said the department had no reason to believe Woods was under the influence.
The incident took place along Hawthorne Boulevard in Rancho Palos Verdes, part of southwestern Los Angeles County. Woods failed to negotiate a slight curve in the road after accelerating down a steep grade, driving across two lanes of oncoming traffic and smacking a tree before coming to a rest. He was extracted through the Genesis’ windshield and immediately taken to a nearby hospital for compound leg fractures and ankle injuries.
Woods was reportedly on his way to a film shoot at the Rolling Hills Country Club around 7 a.m. that day. He was in town for the PGA’s Genesis Invitational, a big-time tournament that was taking place that weekend. As the Los Angeles Times reports, Woods had stayed at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes the night before, and the outlet’s sources claim he sped off in a hurry not long before the crash.
Sheriff Villanueva declined to release details of Woods’ crash as recently as last week, though the athlete waived any objections ahead of Wednesday’s announcement. Regarding rumors of special treatment of the star golfer following the incident, Sheriff Villanueva explained last month:
“I know there’s been a lot of concern about, was he [receiving] any treatment any different than anybody else—he did not. He received the same treatment everybody else would receive. One, there’s no obvious evidence of impairment, and he’s a compound fracture in a horrendous scene. Our concern shifts to humanitarian, you know, life preservation, those kinds of things. And the accident becomes secondary.”
Woods infamously admitted himself to a Florida rehabilitation center citing prescription drug addiction in 2017. He was found unconscious in the driver’s seat in May of that year by authorities and was charged with a DUI as a toxicology report showed five drugs in his system at the time of his arrest.
Woods continues to recover from multiple surgeries in his home state of Florida.
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