Police again unable to interview Woods

ORLANDO, Fla., Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Florida police, rebuffed again Saturday in their desire to question golf star Tiger Woods about his car crash, say they will release the 911 call tapes Sunday.

Woods, the 33-year-old golfer ranked No. 1 in the world, was injured early Friday when he smashed his luxury sport utility vehicle into a fire hydrant and a tree about 2:25 a.m. near his suburban Orlando home. He was released from a hospital later in the day but was sleeping when Florida highway patrol troopers showed up to talk to him Friday and they were turned back again Saturday, CNN reported.

Highway patrol spokeswoman Kim Miller told the U.S. news network Woods's agent asked the troopers to hold off on the interview until Sunday.

The Los Angeles Times reported the highway patrol said that's when it plans to release recordings of the emergency call authorities received about the accident. Officials told the newspaper they expected to wind up their investigation early next week.

Before the accident, Woods had been scheduled to host his Chevron World Challenge next week in Thousand Oaks and hold a news conference Tuesday afternoon. The tournament's director said it wasn't known if Woods would play.

The celebrity news Web site TMZ.com reported Woods allegedly told an unidentified non-law enforcement source his wife, Elin Nordegren Woods, scratched his face during a heated argument about rumors of his suspected infidelity.

The unnamed source alleges when Woods tried to leave the couple's home in his SUV, Nordegren Woods began hitting the vehicle with a golf club. Woods was so distracted the vehicle struck a fire hydrant and then a tree, the source alleges.

The source, who TMZ said talked to Woods after the accident, also claimed the golfer disclosed he had been taking prescription pain medication for an injury.

The unnamed source's version differed from the account given by a Florida official who said Nordegren Woods smashed the SUV's window with a golf club to reach him after the accident and dragged him out before police arrived.

Windermere, Fla., Mayor Gary Bruhn said police arriving at the scene found Woods unconscious on the ground, bleeding from his lips, with his wife hovering over him frantically, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

A call report compiled by the Orange County Sheriff's Office and obtained by the Sentinel indicated Woods was knocked unconscious by the crash for several minutes. Bruhn told the newspaper Woods was fading in and out of consciousness when police arrived.

Nordegren Woods was "frantic, upset," Windermere Police Chief Daniel Saylor told reporters Friday. Saylor said she told officers she was in the house when she heard the crash and "came out and broke the back window with a golf club" to free her husband.

"She supposedly got him out and laid him on the ground," Saylor said.