Tiger Woods Car Accident - Ongoing News and Commentary

mauf

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Is wondering aloud about a possible DUI and different than others who immediately concluded his career is over?
Not the same at all. A car accident that required the jaws of life to extract the driver, followed by immediate surgery to address leg injuries, is suggestive of a few things, none of which are consistent with a 45-year old professional golfer eventually returning to play at an elite level. One of the people suggesting in this thread that this would be a career-ending injury is a physician. By contrast, the DUI discussion is almost entirely speculation — a video clip from a few days ago, a pill problem from a decade ago, and not much else.

Edit: To be clear, I’m speaking as a poster and not as a mod.
 

uncannymanny

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Jan 12, 2007
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Is wondering aloud about a possible DUI and different than others who immediately concluded his career is over?
Yes. An aging professional golfer with back issues having severely broken legs is not very speculative. Plus we know he has broken legs.
 

FL4WL3SS

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Not really. A car accident that required the jaws of life to extract the driver, followed by immediate surgery to address leg injuries, is suggestive of a few things, none of which are consistent with a 45-year old professional golfer eventually returning to play at an elite level. One of the people suggesting in this thread that this would be a career-ending injury is a physician. By contrast, the DUI discussion is almost entirely speculation — a video clip from a few days ago, a pill problem from a decade ago, and not much else.

Edit: To be clear, I’m speaking as a poster and not as a mod.
To be clear, the pill problem was only a couple of years ago and all we know is that he was pulled over while severely fucked up. He's never talked about it nor acknowledged it, so we have no idea if it's still an issue or not. It's completely fair game.

I'm as big of a Tiger fan as anyone else, but let's be realistic here.
 

Melrose Diner

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If we're talking pure golf consequences, I'm not worried about any leg injuries outside amputation.

But I have a hard time believing his back made it out of this crash the same as it was before the crash...
 

mauf

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To be clear, the pill problem was only a couple of years ago and all we know is that he was pulled over while severely fucked up. He's never talked about it nor acknowledged it, so we have no idea if it's still an issue or not. It's completely fair game.

I'm as big of a Tiger fan as anyone else, but let's be realistic here.
Oh, I agree it’s fair game. But it’s a lot more speculative than saying that he likely suffered career-ending injuries in this wreck.

And I was wrong about the timing of the pill problem — for some reason, I thought that had happened much closer in time to his well-publicized marital woes.
 

johnmd20

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Looks like there is a Genesis logo on the side of the car in one of the accident pictures so maybe it's a loaner GV80 from the tournament. Entirely possible it's not his car, he's wasn't used to it, and just got himself into trouble. Hopefully that's all there is to it.
Obviously it wasn't his car. It had the logo, it was a loaner. I don't know why that matters.
 

sodenj5

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If we're talking pure golf consequences, I'm not worried about any leg injuries outside amputation.

But I have a hard time believing his back made it out of this crash the same as it was before the crash...
I feel like if Alex Smith was able to overcome a compound leg fracture that was subsequently infected and required multiple surgeries to fix and then returned to play football at a professional level, then Tiger stands a decent chance at recovering enough to play golf again.

A back injury, as you pointed out, might actually be harder to overcome, not to mention he’s likely going to be on high doses of painkillers for a while as he recovers, and I hope that doesn’t become a long term issue for him as well.
 

Shelterdog

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To be clear, the pill problem was only a couple of years ago and all we know is that he was pulled over while severely fucked up. He's never talked about it nor acknowledged it, so we have no idea if it's still an issue or not. It's completely fair game.

I'm as big of a Tiger fan as anyone else, but let's be realistic here.
I am realistic, I just think it's uncharitable to speculate about the cause. We'll probably know soon enough.
 

djbayko

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To be clear, the pill problem was only a couple of years ago and all we know is that he was pulled over while severely fucked up. He's never talked about it nor acknowledged it, so we have no idea if it's still an issue or not. It's completely fair game.

I'm as big of a Tiger fan as anyone else, but let's be realistic here.
I also don't understand the pushback at speculating on the possible cause. If people here were using that speculation to damn Tiger to hell, that would obviously be wrong. I didn't see anything like that happening here. Me? I think it's quite possible that pills played a role. At the same time, I'm pulling for Tiger as we wait for more information.
 

Ale Xander

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I feel like if Alex Smith was able to overcome a compound leg fracture that was subsequently infected and required multiple surgeries to fix and then returned to play football at a professional level, then Tiger stands a decent chance at recovering enough to play golf again.

A back injury, as you pointed out, might actually be harder to overcome, not to mention he’s likely going to be on high doses of painkillers for a while as he recovers, and I hope that doesn’t become a long term issue for him as well.
Tiger is 9 years older.
 

BaseballJones

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We know he was in a serious accident. I wish he wasn't in it. But since he was, and was injured in at least a fairly significant way (and that can't be undone), I kind of hope that he was texting while driving. The reason I say that is because texting while driving is a HUGE problem and someone like Tiger getting in an accident while texting could be the kind of thing that helps snap others out of that habit.
 

Marciano490

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How much does one use their legs in golf? It’s mostly hips and trunk rotation, right?
 

phrenile

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Plus at the end of the day you still want your legs to be symmetrical.
 

Light-Tower-Power

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Obviously it wasn't his car. It had the logo, it was a loaner. I don't know why that matters.
Big Tiger fan, so just hoping it was simply a case of him being a shitty driver, not knowing how the car handled, and binning it in a curve. Really hoping it isn't a DUI.
 

strek1

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Too bad he wasn't in a caddy like 2017. Probably would have had a lot more protection.

I may have to re think that remark. He was in a Genesis GV80 which is a pretty safe vehicle.
 

ngruz25

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How much does one use their legs in golf? It’s mostly hips and trunk rotation, right?
A ton. In fact, Tiger popularized the common "firing the glutes" meme when golfers discuss generating power. But in general terms, power in golf comes from pushing off the ground with your legs. Ground force reaction is actually the big emphasis in golf training nowadays. Not concepts like "firing the hips". Amateurs try to fire their hips in an effort to swing hard and end up spinning out weakly.

In other words, the hip and trunk rotation that most people equate with the golf swing are really a result of the pressure that you put into the ground in your backswing and especially downswing. A lot of elite golfers are literally jumping off the ground when they swing.
 
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slamminsammya

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If he has a problem with painkillers then regardless of whether they caused this accident or not he's about to be really tested having such serious injuries and surgeries.
 

Ale Xander

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11:43 AM PT -- An L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. source tells TMZ Sports they do not believe alcohol was involved but they did not say whether any other substance was possibly involved.
 

FL4WL3SS

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11:43 AM PT -- An L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. source tells TMZ Sports they do not believe alcohol was involved but they did not say whether any other substance was possibly involved.
Well yeah, they would be able to definitively say about alcohol, but it would be malpractice to insinuate the other without a blood test.

I will say, given the area and time if morning. Seems like it was just shit luck.
 

Ale Xander

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Well yeah, they would be able to definitively say about alcohol, but it would be malpractice to insinuate the other without a blood test.

I will say, given the area and time if morning. Seems like it was just shit luck.
You mean fog/marine layer?

Most people there are WFH, I would think.
 

ifmanis5

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Tiger and D.Wade played golf and had a Golf Digest photo shoot yesterday near where the crash occurred.
dw.jpg

MSNBC says there will be a 6pm (ET) briefing from LA Sheriff Office.
 

ThePrideofShiner

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It's fascinating to me how the media and society lionized Kobe, but treat Tiger as a pariah.

Considering Tiger's fall from grace was basically cheating on a spouse and Kobe's was rape, I'm not sure why that is.
 

Ale Xander

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It's fascinating to me how the media and society lionized Kobe, but treat Tiger as a pariah.

Considering Tiger's fall from grace was basically cheating on a spouse and Kobe's was rape, I'm not sure why that is.
Domestic violence victimization/machismo BS.
 
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joe dokes

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It's fascinating to me how the media and society lionized Kobe, but treat Tiger as a pariah.

Considering Tiger's fall from grace was basically cheating on a spouse and Kobe's was rape, I'm not sure why that is.
Not saying it isn;t reprehensible, I think part of it is that Kobe had a long long career to keep piling up athletic points to dwarf the rapist points in the minds of the sporting press. Tiger's tumble just about coincided with the end of his otherwordly sports success. (That his fuckups are not cause of his decline dont really matter here. The temporal proximity is enough).