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Miami - Police prepared to interview golfing superstar Tiger Woods on Saturday to determine whether charges will be filed for a single-vehicle crash that left him with facial cuts and bruises.
The world's number one golf player was treated and released from hospital after he crashed his 2009 Cadillac SUV outside his luxury Florida home early on Friday, hitting a fire hydrant and ramming into a nearby tree.
"Mr Woods is going to be interrogated sometime today," Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) spokesperson Kim Montes confirmed.
A dispute between Woods and his wife, former Swedish model Elin Nordegren, was at the centre of the accident, amid reports the golf icon was having an affair with a New York club hostess, celebrity news website TMZ.com reported.
By the website's account, Nordegren confronted her husband about the alleged affair, scratching his face in a heated argument before Woods sought to leave the scene as his wife chased him with a golf club, hitting the vehicle several times before the crash.
Nordegren told police she heard the crash and then used a golf club to break a window of the SUV to help her husband.
Yet Montes insisted that "we don't believe it is a domestic issue."
Florida's Health Central Hospital confirmed on Friday that Woods had been treated after a "minor car accident" and released "in good condition."
The golfer, who was resting at home, added: "We appreciate very much everyone's thoughts and well wishes."
Authorities said the 33-year-old crashed into the fire hydrant while leaving his property around 02:25 on Friday in the Windermere community, a suburb of Orlando.
FHP earlier said Woods was transported to the hospital in "serious condition," unleashing frantic media coverage.
"Our criteria for serious injuries might be different from that of a hospital," FHP spokesperson Mark Welch said, referring to the initial police report.
Police said Woods was in a semi-conscious state outside the vehicle with his wife next to him when they arrived. He suffered cuts to both his upper and lower lips.
"I believe he struck his head and his wife came out and pulled him out," Windermere Mayor Gary Bruhn told CNN. "His wife was there and Mr Woods was on the ground. I am not going to say in and out of consciousness, but he was dazed. He was bleeding from the mouth and nose."
No charges have been filed as police said they are still investigating the cause of the crash. It is not yet clear who would face charges.
"She was frantic, upset," Windermere police chief Dan Saylor said of Nordegren, adding he had no knowledge of domestic problems between the couple. "It was her husband lying on the ground."
Bruhn said the ongoing probe does not necessarily mean that there will be charges.
"I personally feel it was an accident," he said. "I have read the police report and it says there was no alcohol involved. I think it was just a simple accident."
Superstar Woods, a 14-time major winner, had been set to play his last tournament of the year at the Chevron World Challenge at Thousand Oaks, California, December 3-6 - an event he hosts annually.
He was scheduled to hold a news conference Tuesday in California.
According to Forbes business magazine, Woods is the first athlete to have broken through the billion-dollar earnings mark.
At age 25, he became the first man to win the US Open, the British Open, the PGA and the Masters on a roll to make him the first simultaneous holder of all four major championship titles at the same time.
Earlier this month, Woods landed the Australian Masters but had returned home for a break prior to playing in the World Challenge next week.
He landed eight titles this year after eight months out of action recovering from reconstructive surgery on his left knee, but failed to win a major.
The Woods's have two children, Sam Alexis, born in 2007, and Charlie Axel, born earlier this year.
