The 15-time golf major champion Tiger Woods had to undergo surgery on his right leg after a car accident in Los Angeles.
The 25-year-old maestro had his tibia and fibula bones fractured in his lower right leg. A rod had been inserted into the tibia. Injuries to his foot and ankle have been stabilised with screws and pins.
“He is recovering in his hospital room,” a statement, published on Woods’ Twitter account, said.
He is awake and responsive, it added.
Woods had to be removed from the wreck by firefighters and paramedics.
Woods was “fortunate to be alive” said a deputy Carlos Gonzalez from the LA County Sheriff’s Department, who was first on the scene of the accident.
Gonzalez said the golfer was “not able to stand under his own power” before being removed from the vehicle which had sustained major damage.
Woods has won 15 major titles, three shy of the all-time record set by Jack Nicklaus, and 82 US PGA crowns, a record he jointly shares with Sam Snead.
Former president Barack Obama, tennis star Serena Williams, basketball great Stephen Curry and singer Mariah Carey were among the celebrities who posted their messages of support on social media.
