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Coronavirus helps golf to bounce back in Japan

        Erika Kikuchi hits her second shot on the 9th hole during the second round of the Daikin Orchid Ladies at the Ryukyu Golf Club in Nanjo, Okinawa A symbol of wealth and social standing in Japan 40 years ago, golf suffered a deep downswing in its popularity after the nation's economic bubble burst in the early 1990s. With the advent of the  coronavirus pandemic and a dramatic shift in the lifestyles  of many Japanese, the sport is enjoying new-found popularity.      The Golf Digest Online course reservation site reported a record number of bookings in calendar 2020, up 12% on the previous year, while the organization for golf course operators announced that player numbers were up 10% in October compared to that of the same month one year earlier, which was before the pandemic struck.  Similarly, operators of golf driving ranges and companies selling golfing equipment and specialist clothing for the sport are all reporting increased sales.  The recent boom in the sport is &quo
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Tiger Woods in hospital with multiple injuries after car accident

File photo of Tiger Woods during the PNC Championship at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club on December 20, 2020 in Florida. © Mike Ehrmann, AFP

Golfer Tiger Woods was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital on Tuesday after suffering multiple injuries when his car went off a road and rolled over, requiring the jaws of life to extricate him.

“Tiger Woods was in a single-car accident this morning in California where he suffered multiple leg injuries," his manager, Mark Steinberg, said. He is currently in surgery and we thank you for your privacy and support.”

Woods, the sole occupant in the car, was removed from the wreckage by firefighters and paramedics, his agent added.

The roll-over crash near Los Angeles did not involve any other vehicles. Television images showed the car lying on a patch of grass off the road, with its hood badly damaged.

A KABC-TV helicopter over the scene of Woods’ accident showed a car on its side with the front end heavily damaged. Air bags appeared to be deployed. The wreckage appeared to be just off the side of a road on a hillside.

The crash occurred shortly before 7.15am local time Tuesday, officials said.

On-course lessons for celebrities

 Woods was in Los Angeles over the weekend as the tournament host of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera, where he presented the trophy. He was to spend Monday and Tuesday filming with Discovery-owned GOLFTV, with whom he has an endorsement contract. 

 According to Golf Digest, also owned by Discovery, the TV shoot was on-course lessons to celebrities, such as Spade and Dwyane Wade. He did not play.

The 15-time major champion last played December 20 in the PNC Championship with his 11-year-old son, Charlie. He had a fifth surgery on his back, a microdiscectomy, two days before Christmas.

This is the third time Woods has been involved in a car investigation. The most notorious was the early morning after Thanksgiving in 2009, when his SUV ran over a fire hydrant and hit a tree. That was the start of shocking revelations that he had been cheating on his wife with multiple women. Woods lost major corporate sponsorship, went to a rehabilitation clinic in Mississippi and did not return to golf for five months.

In May 2017, Florida police found him asleep behind the wheel of a car parked awkwardly on the side of the road. He was arrested on a DUI charge and said later he had an unexpected reaction to prescription medicine for his back pain. Woods later pleaded guilty to reckless driving and checked into a clinic to get help with prescription medication and a sleep disorder.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)

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