Three weeks after the early-morning, single-vehicle crash that put him in hospital with leg injuries, champion Tiger Woods has returned to his Florida home.
The new was tweeted from Tiger Woods’ official account on Tuesday, along with his thanks to the medical staff at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was treated for multiple fractures of the right leg.
The 15-time major champion also expressed his gratitude for the “outpouring of support and encouragement” he had received from friends and supporters since his accident. He wrote: “I will be recovering at home and working on getting stronger every day.”.
Tiger Woods was driving to an early morning video shoot in Los Angeles County on February 23rd when his SUV crossed a reservation, hit a tree and overturned. Police are investigating the cause of the crash, though there is no evidence that another vehicle was involved or that Tiger Woods was under the influence of alcohol.
Surgery
He underwent surgery on the day of the accident for multiple fractures to his right tibia and fibula, including having a rod inserted into the tibia, and additional screws and pins inserted into bones in his foot and ankle.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who has a home near Tiger Woods in Jupiter, Florida, said in an interview last week with talk show host Jimmy Fallon that Tiger Woods was “doing better” and it would be “great” for him to be back at his home with his family.
Several leading players have said Tiger Woods has been in contact with them during his stay in hospital via text messages.
In the PGA tournament in the days after his crash, several players paid tribute to Woods by wearing his customary Sunday outfit of black trousers and a red shirt in the final round.
Woods, now 45, ties with Sam Snead for the most tournament victories in PGA Tour history with 82, but over the last few years he has struggled with medical problems including a back injury for which he has had five surgeries, and knee problems for which he has also had five surgeries.
It’s not known how the recent accident, in which Tiger Woods also injured an ankle, will affect his playing ability in the long term, but on previous evidence it is possible that he will recover full ability. In 2009 he came back to win his 11th PGA Tour player of the year award and return to world number one, and while four back surgeries kept him out of golf for the better part of two years, he won the US Masters in 2019 for the fifth time, amid highly emotional scenes at Augusta.