The mayor of the Florida town where Tiger Woods crashed his car blamed the celebrity golfer for allowing things to get “blown out of proportion” and said he should have just come clean early on.
“It’s gotten blown out of proportion. It all started with ‘Tiger’s in the hospital.’ But then, as it turned out, it was a minor accident,” Windermere Mayor Gary Bruhn told The Post.
“[Yet] no one ever came forward to tell the full story. It was allowed to fester. I think had it been approached immediately: ‘There was an accident in front of my yard, and nothing is wrong. I have some minor injuries, and I’m fine.’ Then I don’t think it would have gotten this far.”
The mayor’s comments came as:
* Woods’ Web site announced that he’ll be “unable to play” in this week’s Chevron World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, Cal. “due to injuries sustained in a one-car accident last week.”
* US magazine reported that the mother of alleged Woods mistress Rachel Uchitel told pals that her daughter has dated New York Yankees Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.
* Cops threatened to seek a warrant for Woods’ hospital records after the predawn crash at the foot of his driveway Friday, as well as footage from security cameras on his estate, according to the celebrity Web site TMZ.
The Florida Highway Patrol refused comment. A hospital spokesman ripped the TMZ report as “completely false.”
* TMZ said Woods’ wife, Elin, first told cops that she was on foot when she discovered her husband but later told authorities she had been driving around in a golf cart looking for him, TMZ said.
Woods remained in seclusion at his multimillion-dollar estate, huddled with lawyer Mark NeJame. Neither NeJame, Woods’ agent nor his media rep returned calls or e-mails seeking comment.
But a pal of Woods told TMZ that the golf great and his wife had been fighting Thanksgiving Day over his alleged affair with Uchitel.
Woods, 33, stormed from the house just before his 2:25 a.m. accident screaming, “You’ve ruined our Thanksgiving! Are you happy now?” according to the Web site radaronline.
Additional reporting by David K. Li