When Tiger Woods was rolling along a few years ago, winning majors, winning minors, winning everything, the great Dan Jenkins predicted lightheartedly nothing could stop Tiger except an injury or a bad marriage.

No one is laughing any longer.

There was the knee surgery which knocked Tiger off the Tour the last six months of 2008 and the first two of 2009. Now comes a car crash from which Tiger, bleeding and briefly unconscious, had to be extricated by his wife breaking a window with a golf club.

This happened at roughly 2:30 in the morning outside their Florida mansion, giving rise to speculation about the second part of Jenkins' suggestion. Especially when the celebrity gossip web site TMZ reported Woods and wife Elin Nordegren had been arguing.

Not that this makes them much different from most married people in the world.

TMZ said "One Florida law enforcement official called it "a domestic issue.''

But an accident in which Woods is hurt, and he had to be transported by ambulance to a hospital near Orlando, is a headline issue, especially for pro golf.

As we found out in the months of his absence, No Tiger, no Tour. At least no Tour in which anyone is particularly interested.

Woods was supposed to be in southern California next week to host the Chevron World Challenge, known familiarly as the "Tiger Woods Invitational,'' at Sherwood Country Club some 40 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. It's an event limited to 16 players, all top names, which benefits Tiger's educational foundation.

A week ago, he was in another part of the state, the north, getting inducted into the athletic hall of fame at Stanford, which he attended from 1994 to 1996, and as honorary captain for the 112th Big Game between Stanford and Cal.

He was in a good mood that night, greeting people he knew in the media, and wearing a red Stanford sweatshirt and blue jeans. Elin and the couple's two children were with them. The evening before, prior to the official induction ceremonies, Tiger led the Stanford band in the school's unofficial rally song, "It's All Right Now.''

One can only hope it's all right now.

Hope the crash injuries, first called serious and then reassessed as minor, don't hold him back.

Hope the gossip that has grown as unfortunately as it does around all celebrities, sports or entertainment, is quieted.

Woods will be 34 on December 30. He has won 93 golf tournaments around the globe, 82 considered official, 14 majors, second in that ranking to the 18 of Jack Nicklaus.

Along with David Beckham and Roger Federer, Tiger is considered one of the three best-known athletes in the world, an honor which works both ways, positively and negatively.

So many people admire him. So many people are jealous, looking for any item which can be used against him. Such as ramming his car into a fire hydrant and then a neighbor's tree at 2:30 a.m.

And no, authorities say, alcohol was not involved.

Accidents happen. To nobodies. To the rich and famous. We drive too fast. We get distracted. We get fatigued. We get a car coming from the light which runs through a stop sign. We get unlucky. Or maybe in Tiger's case we get lucky.

From the observations of the mayor of Windermere, Gary Bruhn, the intensely private community where Tiger lives, what happened "was nothing more than an accident.''

Of course, when your home owners are Tiger Woods, Shaquille O'Neal and Ken Griffey Jr., among others, there's not going to be a lot of CSI: Miami analysis

"When I first heat about it,'' fellow golfer and resident Mark Wilson told the Orlando Sentinel, "my heart jumped a beat. But then I Googled and found a story, and it sounds like he's OK. Knowing him, he was probably leaving for an early-morning workout.''

Not exactly.

Woods, whose endorsement with Buick ended earlier this year, was driving a Cadillac Escalade, an SUV. Nordegren, his wife of five years, heard the vehicle crash and came outside, helping to free her husband.

A call report compiled by the Florida Orange County Sheriff's office and obtained by the Sentinel indicated Woods was unconscious but breathing for about six minutes.

When Florida Highway Patrol troopers arrived at the Woods home Friday evening, his wife said Tiger was resting and asked the officers to return Saturday. They agreed. "People's health comes first,'' said Kim Montes, spokeswoman for the highway patrol.

Particularly a person whose health and happiness has a great deal to do with the health and happiness of pro golf in America.