US golf legend Tiger Woods, who was involved in a bad car crash on Tuesday morning in a Los Angeles suburb, was recovering after successful surgeries. However, the leg injuries sustained may not allow him to compete at the top level again.

Law enforcement officials said the 15-time major champion, who has been plagued by injury in recent years, was lucky to survive the accident in which his car rolled several times.

Providing an update on Wods’ health, his team said that the 45-year-old was “currently awake, responsive, and recovering in his hospital room.”

In the same statement, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center chief medical officer Anish Mahajan said Woods underwent surgery to repair “significant orthopedic injuries” to his lower right leg and ankle.

This included the insertion of a rod into his shin bone and the use of “a combination of screws and pins” to stabilise his foot and ankle, the statement read.

Woods recently underwent his fifth back operation and has had three procedures on his knee during a career that has also seen him bounce back from high-profile scandal in his personal life.

In 2019, he completed an astonishing comeback from four back operations between 2014 and 2017 to win the Masters, his first major title since 2008.

“If he does come back to be a golfer again then I think that would be quite extraordinary,” six-time major winner Nick Faldo said Wednesday.

Woods did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the early-morning incident, reports added.