Tiger Woods was speeding at time of car crash, say police

It has emerged that Tiger Woods was travelling at almost twice the speed limit when he was involved in a near-fatal car crash close to Los Angeles in February.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has revealed that the 15-time major champion was driving between 84mph and 87mph on a 45mph stretch of road at the time of his accident shortly after 7am on February 23. 

It was also revealed that Woods hit a tree at 75mph.

One of the investigating officers, Alex Villanueva, said the speed was “unsafe for the road conditions” He also revealed that Woods did not brake prior to the collision, adding that data recovered from the ‘black box’ of his Genesis SUV indicated that the golfer may have hit the accelerator rather than the brake pedal in a moment of panic.

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Officers reiterated their stated belief that Woods displayed no signs of intoxication or impairment when first responders arrived on the scene and that no “open containers” were found in the vehicle.

The bodycam footage from the crash will not be released, although there are plans to introduce tighter traffic control measures at the site of the crash, a notorious accident blackspot.

Woods, 45, was travelling alone in Rancho Palos Verdes, south of Los Angeles, when his car left the road and rolled multiple times.

He had to be pulled from the wreckage of the vehicle and required emergency surgery on his right leg and ankle.

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One of the first responders who attended to Woods said that he was lucky to survive the smash.

Woods has since been discharged from hospital and is recovering at home in Florida where he has been visited in recent weeks by Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas. 

He missed last night’s Champions Dinner at Augusta National ahead of this week’s Masters but tweeted about the event to say how much he was missing it.