Phew.

The collective sigh of relief heard Friday afternoon came from the PGA Tour, a plethora of endorsement companies and the game of golf in general after it was learned that injuries suffered by Tiger Woods in an early-morning automobile accident were minor.

Initial releases on the accident from the Florida State Highway Patrol described the condition of Woods as "serious." But as information continued to emerge it was learned that the biggest star in golf had suffered only bruises and facial cuts after his 2009 Cadillac Escalade hit a fire hydrant and a neighbor's tree while exiting the Woods' driveway.

Woods lives in a $2.4 million home at Isleworth, Fla., an exclusive gated waterfront community just outside Orlando.

Woods' wife, Elin, heard the crash, which occurred at 2:25 a.m. Friday morning, and came to Tiger's aid with a golf club. She reportedly broke out the back glass in the SUV and helped her husband out of the vehicle.

The highway patrol said Woods was at first listed as seriously injured because of a policy that a person who is bleeding and is transported to a hospital by ambulance is listed that way.

There was no statement released from the Woods home for more than 13 hours. He was to be interviewed by police on Saturday.

Woods, whose private life has always been just that -- private -- had not released a statement at press time. There was a report in the National Enquirer earlier in the week that Woods had been seeing a New York night club hostess. The woman, Rachel Uchitel, denied this.

"This is not a story that I have anything to do with," she told a reporter.