>>> THIS IS AN NBC NEWS SPECIAL REPORT. HERE'S LESTER HOLT. >>> GOOD DAY, EVERYONE, WE'RE COMING ON THE AIR WITH BREAKING NEWS. IT HAS TO DO WITH GOLF SUPERSTAR TIGER WOODS WHO HAS BEEN INJURED IN A SERIOUS CAR ACCIDENT IN PALOS VERDES, CALIFORNIA, OUTSIDE LOS ANGELES. WOODS HAS BEEN HOSPITALIZED SHORTEDLY WITH MULTIPLE LEG INJURIES AND IS UNDERGOING SURGERY. IT'S NOT YET CLEAR HOW SERIOUSLY HE'S BEEN INJURED BUT WE DO KNOW THE SUV HE WAS DRIVING, HE WAS THE SOLE OCCUPANT, WENT OFF THE ROAD AND ROLLED OVER SHORTLY AFTER 7:00 THIS MORNING CALIFORNIA TIME. LEAVING IT SERIOUSLY DAMAGED AND FORCING FIRST RESPONDERS TO USE THE JAWS OF LIFE POWER TOOL TO EXTRICATE HIM FROM THE WRECK. GADI SCHWARTZ IS IN LOS ANGELES AND HAS MORE REPORTING ON THIS. GADI, WHAT DO WE KNOW? >> Reporter: GOOD EVENING, LESTER, LOOKING AT THAT VIDEO FROM THE HELICOPTERS ABOVE YOU GET A SENSE OF JUST HOW VIOLENCE THIS CRASH WAS. WE KNOW THAT TIGER WOODS WAS THE ONLY PERSON INSIDE THIS SUV, AND THE JAWS OF LIFE WERE USED. AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT THAT CRASH YOU CAN SEE WHY. IT APPEARS AS THOUGH THE ENTIRE ENGINE OF THE FRONT OF THE SUV HAS BEEN ALMOST SHEERED OFF. NOW, WE'RE GETTING A LITTLE BIT OF A SENSE AS TO WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED FROM SOME OF THE DEBRIS THAT'S NEARBY. IT APPEARS AS THOUGH THIS HAPPENED ON HAWTHORNE BOULEVARD IN PALOS VERDES AND WE'RE GETTING A BETTER PICTURE FROM THE DEBRIS FIELD THAT APPEARS AS THOUGH HE WAS TRAVELING NORTHBOUND, CROSSED SOUTHBOUND, CRASHED INTO SOME SIGN THAT WAS SITTING IN THE MEDIAN AND ENDED UP QUITE A WAYS AWAY FACING THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION UP ON THAT EMBANKMENT WITH ALL OF THE AIR BAGS APPEAR -- APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED. AND, AGAIN, THE ENTIRE ENGINE FROM THAT CAR -- OR FROM THAT SUV IS MISSING. NOW, WE KNOW HE WAS HERE IN CALIFORNIA FOR A TWO-DAY TELEVISION SHOOT AFTER HOSTING THE PGA TOUR GENESIS INVITATIONAL OVER THE WEEKEND. PART OF THAT INCLUDED GIVING WELL-KNOWN CELEBRITIES LIKE DWYANE WADE AND DAVID SPADE GOLF LESSONS YESTERDAY. ALL OF THAT WAS HAPPENING AT THE ROLLING HILLS GOLF COURSE. AGAIN, THIS CRASH HAPPENED AT ABOUT 7:00 IN THE MORNING. IT'S UNCLEAR IF HE WAS HEADED TO THE ROLLING HILLS GOLF COURSE, OR POSSIBLY HEADED AWAY FROM THE ROLLING HILLS GOLF COURSE. BUT AT THIS POINT WE KNOW THAT HE'S GOT EXTENSIVE INJURIES TO BOTH HIS LEGS ACCORDING TO HIS AGENT AND IS UNDERGOING EMERGENCY SURGERY AT HARBOR VIEW HOSPITAL. SO THAT'S THE LATEST WE HAVE ON HIS CONDITION. BUT JUST TAKING A LOOK AT THE DAMAGE ON THAT VEHICLE, AGAIN, YOU CAN IMAGINE WHAT KIND OF INJURIES HE MUST HAVE HAD WITH HIS LEGS NEAR THAT CAVITY WHERE THE ENGINE WAS, AND ALL THOSE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED. THE JAWS OF LIFE BEING USED TO PULL HIM OUT OF THE VEHICLE ONCE EMERGENCY RESPONDERS FIRST GOT THERE. >> REMARKABLE. THE FRONT END OF THAT VEHICLE, JUST OBLITERATED. ALL RIGHT GADI SCHWARTZ, THANK YOU. ALSO STANDING BY FOR US IS MIKE TIRICO OF NBC SPORTS. MIKE, THERE'S NO BIGGER NAME IN GOLF THAN TIGER WOODS. YOU MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW THE GAME BUT YOU CERTAINLY KNOW WHO HE IS. >> WE ALL DO, LESTER, WITHOUT QUESTION, TIGER HAS BEEN A PART OF THE SPORTS CONVERSATION REALLY FOR THREE DECADES. HE CAME OUT WAY BACK AS A YOUTH ON THE OLD MIKE DOUGLAS TV SHOW. HIS DAD ALWAYS WANTED HIM TO BE A GOLFER AND HE WAS OUT THERE WITH BOB HOPE HITTING GOLF BALLS AT A VERY YOUNG AGE AND TIGER'S BEEN ON THE STAGE, HE'S BEEN IN THE HEADLINES FOR HIS PLAY, HE'S BEEN IN THE HEADLINES FOR THINGS THAT HAVE GONE WRONG OFF THE GOLF COURSE. HE'S BEEN INVOLVED IN MULTIPLE SURGERIES, HE HAD JUST A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO HAD HIS FIFTH PROCEDURE ON HIS BACK. HIS BACK AND NECK AND KNEE INJURIES HAVE REALLY SHORTED WHAT WAS ON PACE TO BE THE GREATEST CAREER IN THE SPORT. SOME MAY SAY IT STILL IS. HE'S WON 82 TIMES, AS MUCH AS ANYONE, TIED WITH SAM SNEAD FOR THE ALL-TIME RECORD, 15 MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS, JACK NICKLAUS HAS WON 18. BUT THE CROSSOVER, THE FACT THAT NO MATTER, GOLF OR NOT, YOU KNOW WHO TIGER WOODS IS, YOU RECOGNIZE HIM NOT JUST HERE IN THE STATES BUT AROUND THE WORLD. I HAS EVERYBODY BUZZING TODAY. >> MIKE, THANKS AGAIN. 45-YEAR-OLD TIGER WOODS, ONE OF THE GREATEST GOLFERS AND ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN FIGURES IN SPORTS, IN SURGERY RIGHT NOW THIS HOUR WITH MULTIPLE LEG INJURIES FOLLOWING A SERIOUS SOLO CAR ACCIDENT THIS MORNING IN CALIFORNIA. WE'LL HAVE FULL DETAILS COMING UP ON NBC NIGHTLY NEWS. FOR NOW I'M LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS, NEW YORK.