Golf legend Tiger Woods suffered significant leg injuries in a car crash Tuesday outside of Los Angeles that required emergency surgery after first responders pulled him from his wrecked vehicle with a pry bar and ax.
Woods was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to a statement released Thursday.
Woods, 45 years old, has won 15 major championships and is considered by many to be the greatest golfer ever. He won the 2019 Masters after going more than a decade without any major titles—cementing a comeback few believed was plausible after years of injury and scandal.
What are his injuries?
Woods underwent a long surgical procedure on his lower right leg and ankle after being brought to the hospital, according to the statement. The hospital’s chief medical officer, Dr. Anish Mahajan, said he suffered “significant orthopedic injuries.”
Woods suffered comminuted open fractures affecting both the upper and lower portions of the tibia and fibula bones in the leg, which was stabilized with a rod inserted into the tibia, Dr. Mahajan said in the statement. Screws and pins were inserted to stabilize Woods’s foot and ankle. Additionally, trauma to the muscle and soft tissue required a surgical release of the muscle’s covering due to pressure.
