Tiger Woods is on the mend and eyeing a potential return home from the hospital within the next week or two following his devastating single-vehicle crash in a Los Angeles suburb last month, according to his friend Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy said during a Tuesday night appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon that he and other golf pros have been in contact with Woods, and that the 15-time major winner is "doing better" after surgery to repair the multiple leg fractures and a "shattered" ankle suffered in the scary-looking wreck.
“I’ve spoken to him a little bit,” McIlroy said. “He’s doing better. I think all the guys have reached out to him. Hopefully if things go well over the next week or so, he might be able to get home and start recovery at home, which would be great for him. See his kids, see his family.
“But yeah, he’s doing better. And I think all of us are wishing him a speedy recovery at this point.”
McIlroy, speaking from TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., the site of this week's Players Championship, said his buddy was even in good enough spirits to rib him over his poor showing in the final round at last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“He texted me some words of encouragement before the final round of Bay Hill on Sunday. And things didn’t quite go to plan, and he was the first one to text me and be like, ‘What’s going on here?’ So even from the hospital bed, he’s still giving me some heat.”
Woods is presently recovering in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he was transferred following emergency surgery at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
The early-morning crash occurred on Feb. 23, on a hilly stretch of road in the upscale Ranchos Palos Verdes area, where Woods was in town for promotional events at a nearby club.
The Genesis GV80 driven by Woods drifted over a median, onto the wrong side of the road, before veering down a hillside and coming to rest on its side, authorities said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said the crash appeared to be an accident, and ruled out driver impairment soon after. It has since obtained a warrant for the vehicle's black box.
Tiger last tweeted on Feb. 28, expressing gratitude to several golfers, including McIlroy, who had paid tribute to him by wearing his iconic red top for the final round of the WGC-Workday Championship.