Washington, Nov 28 - Golf luminary Tiger Woods was slightly injured Friday in an early morning car accident just outside his home near Orlando, Florida, and was treated at a nearby hospital before being released, his publicist and the hospital said.

According to a joint statement, the world's leading professional golfer "was in a minor car accident outside of his home last night."

"He was admitted, treated and released today in good condition," Woods' publicist and Health Central Hospital said in a joint statement.

Earlier reports cited a state police report that Woods, 33, had suffered serious injuries.

But then Gary Bruhn, mayor of Windermere, Florida, whose policeforce also responded to the accident report, told CNN that Woods had suffered only "facial lacerations."

"Basically it was facial lacerations and as I am understanding it, nothing that serious," Bruhn said.

Susan Jackson, senior vice president at Health Central Hospital, said in broadcast remarks that the accident was considered "minor" because Woods "was able to go home today."

The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), as the state police are known, told local media that Woods' car, a 2009 SUV-style Escalade, first hit a fire hydrant and then a nearby tree as he was driving on the circle outside his home in Isleworth, Florida. (dpa)