Tiger Woods underwent emergency surgery Tuesday to repair significant damage to his right leg and ankle, his team said in a statement posted on his Twitter account late Tuesday night.
Woods' team said in the statement that the golfer was "awake, responsive and recovering in his hospital room" at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center following the surgery. Woods, 45, sustained the injuries in a one-car crash in Rancho Palos Verdes, California on Tuesday morning.
Anish Mahajan, the chief medical officer and interim CEO at the hospital, said in the statement that Woods had multiple open fractures affecting both the upper and lower portions of his right tibia and fibula, the two main bones in the lower leg. The bones were stabilized "by inserting a rod into the tibia," he added.
Woods also suffered injuries to the bones in his right foot and ankle, which were stabilized using screws and pins, and to muscle and soft-tissue in the leg. Mahajan said doctors had to surgically release "the covering of the muscles to relieve pressure due to swelling."
"Mr. Woods suffered significant orthopaedic injuries to his right lower extremity that were treated during emergency surgery by Orthopaedic trauma specialists at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, a level 1 trauma center," Mahajan said.
The statement did not explicitly mention any injuries or damage to Woods' left leg. Daryl Osby, the chief of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said at a news conference earlier Tuesday that he believed both of Woods' legs were seriously injured in the crash.
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Authorities said Woods' car rolled over several times after striking the median on Hawthorne Boulevard, a two-lane street in an upscale neighborhood south of Los Angeles. Carlos Gonzalez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, who was the first officer to arrive on the scene Tuesday morning, described that portion of the street as "one of our trouble spots" — the site of frequent speeding incidents and accidents.
Woods had been in the Los Angeles area for the Genesis Invitational, a PGA Tour event at nearby Riviera Country Club. He did not play at the event, while continuing to recover from a fifth surgical procedure on his back, but was on hand and presented the trophy to the winner.
Contact Tom Schad at [email protected] or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.
