A CNN host has been slammed for âirresponsible journalismâ after comments he made in the aftermath of Tuesdayâs rollover accident in which golfer Tiger Woods suffered serious injuries.
Andy Scholes was asked during a segment on the accident for his reaction.
âStunned I guess, but not entirely surprised by, you know, what weâre seeing here,â Scholes said.
âTiger, back in 2017, was found by police, pulled over the side of the road, you know, asleep in his car. He had said he had taken a lot of painkillers at that time. Because, we all know, Tigerâs undergone a lot of surgeries over the years and painkillers have become a part of his life,â he said.
The incident to which Scholes referred took place in Jupiter, Florida, when Woods blamed an âunexpected reaction to prescribed medicationsâ for being found asleep in his car.
The Los Angeles County Sherriffâs Department said Tuesday said there was no evidence Woods was impaired.
LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Woods was traveling at a ârelatively greater speed than normalâ in an area that âhas a high frequency of accidents.â
Woods was âlucky to be alive,â Villanueva said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Scholes, meanwhile, was being raked over the coals for judging Woods without all the facts.
âThis is just irresponsible journalism,â tweeted Hemal Jhaveri, an editor for USA Today Sports. âWe donât know anything yet. CNN needs to get some real sports reporters.â
âSorry didnât mean for it to come out that way,â Scholes replied to more than a dozen critical tweets.
A Twitter statement updated fans on the golferâs progress.
The statement said that during âa long surgical procedureâ on his lower right leg and ankle, a rod was inserted into Woodsâ leg. Screws were placed in his foot and ankle.
LA County sheriffâs Deputy Carlos Gonzalez said Woods âwas not able to stand under his own powerâ when the deputy arrived on the scene.
âI spoke to him. I asked him what his name was. He told me his name was Tiger, and at that moment, I immediately recognized him,â Gonzalez said.
Laureen Swing, who lives near the crash site, said the place Woods crashed is dangerous.
âThereâs accidents all the time,â she told the Times. âI think itâs almost a dangerous stretch of road, and I always stay on the right side because Iâm just afraid of people wanting to go fast.â
âThey donât use turn signals sometimes when they switch lanes. Iâve almost found myself getting into an accident, trying to avoid another car cutting me off on that road. Itâs pretty dangerous.â
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
