Golf star Tiger Woods mistakenly thought he was in Florida after his crash in Los Angeles in February, a collision report obtained by USA Today Sports said.
“I then asked [Woods] if he is able to tell me about what happened regarding the traffic collision,” Deputy Kyle Sullivan said in the report about his interview with Woods in the hospital. “Woods ‘told me he did not remember being involved in a traffic collision. [Woods] thought he was currently in the state of Florida.’”
The report, prepared by Sgt. Michael Downing, also states that there was an empty pharmaceutical bottle found that was not labeled in a backpack at the crash site. It is not clear what was inside the bottle.
The report says there was no reason to believe Woods was under the influence of any drugs or alcohol during the incident, according to USA Today.
Former detective Jonathan Cherney, who was not a part of the sheriff’s investigation, believes the crash was “like a classic case of falling asleep behind the wheel, because the road curves and his vehicle goes straight.”
“The data here supports that he was not conscious,” said Cherney, a forensic crash reconstruction expert. “I’m seeing the brakes off the entire time. I don’t see any steering at all (until late in the recorded crash sequence). That’s not indicative of emergency steering at all. This is not consistent with somebody who’s awake behind the wheel.”
Woods was traveling 84 to 87 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone when he crashed the car.
“Had [Woods] applied his brakes to reduce his speed or steered to correct the direction of travel, he would not have collided with the center median and the collision would not have occurred,” the report said.
Woods suffered severe injuries during the crash but has since been able to go home and recover.