Did Woods' angry wife cause golfer to crash?

Windermere, Florida:  Tiger Woods reportedly told a friend that his wife had scratched his face up during an argument over a report that the golf great had cheated on her.

TMZ, the online celebrity gossip and investigative reporting website, claim that the facial lacerations from a car accident were inflicted by his wife, Elin Nordegren - according to a conversation Woods had on Friday after the accident.

The story said his wife had confronted him about reports that he was seeing another woman (believed to be Rachel Uchitel) and the argument got heated.

According to TMZ's source, she scratched his face forcing Woods to flee his beachfront home in Windermere and head for his SUV.

Elin is alleged to have followed him armed with a golf club. As Woods drove away, she struck the vehicle several times with the club causing him to get ‘distracted' and lose control of the Escalde which veered into a fire hydrant and then hit a tree.

Then hours after the accident Woods told his friend that he had to go get a ‘Kobe Special.' which meant that he had to buy Elin a ring to help patch things up just as the basketball star had done for his wife Vanessa after he was accused of raping a girl in Colorado.

The girl at the centre of the Woods-Elin storm is believed to be Rachel Uchitel, who has denied having an affair with the golf star.

The Florida Highway Patrol are keen to speak to both Tiger and his wife but have been told that they must wait until today. Two Florida Highway Patrol vehicles went to Woods' $2.4-million (Dh8.8-million) mansion outside Orlando, but were turned away.

"The Florida Highway Patrol has received information that Tiger Woods and his wife were not available to be interviewed ... as we had previously scheduled," Kim Montes, a sergeant with the FHP's Orlando division, said in a statement.

Woods, 33, the greatest golfer of his generation and one of the world's most recognisable figures, hit a fire hydrant and tree as he pulled his Cadillac Escalade out of the driveway of his house at around 2.25 am local time on Friday, the FHP said. He was taken to hospital with some injuries, and released.

Montes said no more information would be given until the "traffic crash" investigation is completed.

Will this rumour ruin Tiger Woods' reputation? How will this affect his career?