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Miami - Tiger Woods put off an interview with police for a second day on Saturday, deepening the mystery surrounding the late-night, one-car crash that left the global golf icon bloody and dazed.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers were on their way to interview Woods and his wife, former model Elin Nordegren of Sweden, on Saturday when they received a message that the couple weren't available.
"The Florida Highway Patrol has received information that Tiger Woods and his wife were not available to be interviewed by state troopers, as we had previously scheduled," FHP spokesperson, Sergeant Kim Montes, said in an e-mail statement. "This announcement came from his agent.
"Troopers were asked to return on Sunday."
Meanwhile, FHP officers examined the scene where Woods crashed his Cadillac SUV near his two million-dollar home at 2:25 on Friday, hitting a fire hydrant and then a tree. Authorities have said that alcohol wasn't involved.
Woods was briefly hospitalized and released, suffering cuts to both lips.
Montes said the FHP are investigating the incident as a traffic crash, and there is no evidence to suggest a crime occurred.
The celebrity news website TMZ.com reported that a dispute between the couple was at the center of the accident.
By the website's account, Nordegren confronted her husband about reports that he was having an affair with a New York club hostess.
FHP officers tried to speak to Woods on Friday afternoon, but said when Nordegren told them he was sleeping that they agreed to postpone the interview until Saturday.
An initial FHP report that Woods was in "serious" condition sparked a wave of frantic media coverage, and a clutch of reporters were camped out Saturday near Woods's exclusive gated neighborhood in hopes of gleaning information.
The FHP, however, were trying to clamp down on speculation as to what their probe - which will include a review of the initial 911 emergency call - would find.
"Currently, there is no other information to be released," Montes said.
In fact, Woods is not required by Florida law to speak with the FHP, but Montes said investigators "wanted to give him the opportunity to tell us what happened in the crash."
Daniel Saylor, police chief of the Orlando suburb of Windermere, said on Friday that two of his officers found a dazed and bloodied Woods lying in the street with his worried wife near him.
Nordegren told the officers she heard the crash from inside the house and then used a golf club to break the back window of the vehicle to help her husband.
Montes said the FHP, as the sole investigating agency, "will not address any other statements that have been circulating throughout this incident, unless those statements were made specifically by this agency."
Woods's only public comment on the incident was in a brief statement posted on his website on Friday, confirming he was involved in a "minor" accident and was released from hospital "in good condition."
Despite his high profile, the 14-time major champion has largely managed to keep his private life private.
He and his wife have been married for five years and have two children, daughter Sam Alexis, born in 2007, and son Charlie Axel, born in February.
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 USPGA and the Masters on a roll to make him the first simultaneous holder of all four major championship titles.
Earlier this month, Woods won the Australian Masters but had returned home for a break prior to next week's tournament.
In addition to his Australian victory, Woods won six US PGA Tour titles this year and helped the United States win the Presidents Cup team match play title.
Although he failed to win a major, he has said he was pleased with the season which followed an eight-month layoff as he recovered from reconstructive surgery on his left knee.
Woods is scheduled to play his last tournament of 2009 next week, when he hosts the Chevron World Challenge in the Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks, California. The annual event benefits his charitable foundation.
Woods was scheduled to hold a news conference at the tournament on Tuesday, and that schedule had not been revised as of Saturday evening.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers were on their way to interview Woods and his wife, former model Elin Nordegren of Sweden, on Saturday when they received a message that the couple weren't available.
"The Florida Highway Patrol has received information that Tiger Woods and his wife were not available to be interviewed by state troopers, as we had previously scheduled," FHP spokesperson, Sergeant Kim Montes, said in an e-mail statement. "This announcement came from his agent.
"Troopers were asked to return on Sunday."
Meanwhile, FHP officers examined the scene where Woods crashed his Cadillac SUV near his two million-dollar home at 2:25 on Friday, hitting a fire hydrant and then a tree. Authorities have said that alcohol wasn't involved.
Woods was briefly hospitalized and released, suffering cuts to both lips.
Montes said the FHP are investigating the incident as a traffic crash, and there is no evidence to suggest a crime occurred.
The celebrity news website TMZ.com reported that a dispute between the couple was at the center of the accident.
By the website's account, Nordegren confronted her husband about reports that he was having an affair with a New York club hostess.
FHP officers tried to speak to Woods on Friday afternoon, but said when Nordegren told them he was sleeping that they agreed to postpone the interview until Saturday.
An initial FHP report that Woods was in "serious" condition sparked a wave of frantic media coverage, and a clutch of reporters were camped out Saturday near Woods's exclusive gated neighborhood in hopes of gleaning information.
The FHP, however, were trying to clamp down on speculation as to what their probe - which will include a review of the initial 911 emergency call - would find.
"Currently, there is no other information to be released," Montes said.
In fact, Woods is not required by Florida law to speak with the FHP, but Montes said investigators "wanted to give him the opportunity to tell us what happened in the crash."
Daniel Saylor, police chief of the Orlando suburb of Windermere, said on Friday that two of his officers found a dazed and bloodied Woods lying in the street with his worried wife near him.
Nordegren told the officers she heard the crash from inside the house and then used a golf club to break the back window of the vehicle to help her husband.
Montes said the FHP, as the sole investigating agency, "will not address any other statements that have been circulating throughout this incident, unless those statements were made specifically by this agency."
Woods's only public comment on the incident was in a brief statement posted on his website on Friday, confirming he was involved in a "minor" accident and was released from hospital "in good condition."
Despite his high profile, the 14-time major champion has largely managed to keep his private life private.
He and his wife have been married for five years and have two children, daughter Sam Alexis, born in 2007, and son Charlie Axel, born in February.
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 USPGA and the Masters on a roll to make him the first simultaneous holder of all four major championship titles.
Earlier this month, Woods won the Australian Masters but had returned home for a break prior to next week's tournament.
In addition to his Australian victory, Woods won six US PGA Tour titles this year and helped the United States win the Presidents Cup team match play title.
Although he failed to win a major, he has said he was pleased with the season which followed an eight-month layoff as he recovered from reconstructive surgery on his left knee.
Woods is scheduled to play his last tournament of 2009 next week, when he hosts the Chevron World Challenge in the Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks, California. The annual event benefits his charitable foundation.
Woods was scheduled to hold a news conference at the tournament on Tuesday, and that schedule had not been revised as of Saturday evening.
