Golf superstar Tiger Woods said he's the only person responsible for a bizarre early morning car crash but cancelled meeting with police for the third time on Sunday.

Woods, a mega-celebrity with a squeaky-clean image, has been under intense scrutiny and downplayed the incident in which his Cadillac SUV struck a fire hydrant and a tree next to his Florida mansion.

"This situation is my fault, and it's obviously embarrassing to my family and me," Woods said in a statement posted Sunday afternoon on his website.

"I'm human and I'm not perfect. I will certainly make sure this doesn't happen again," the statement reads. "This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way."

The top-ranked PGA player called rumours about his family "false, unfounded and malicious."

"My wife, Elin, acted courageously when she saw I was hurt and in trouble. She was the first person to help me. Any other assertion is absolutely false," Woods wrote.

He also cancelled another meeting with Florida police Sunday afternoon, according to Florida Highway Patrol spokesperson Sgt. Kim Montes.

A local police chief, Daniel Saylor, said Woods' wife told officers she used a golf club to break the back window of the vehicle after hearing the crash from their home. Saylor also said that Woods was "mumbling, but didn't say anything coherent" when police arrived.

An ambulance later took Woods to hospital where he was treated for facial injuries and released. Alcohol was not a factor in the crash, the Florida Highway Patrol has said.

A tape of a 911 call was released Sunday, in which a neighbour told dispatchers that a black Cadillac Escalade hit a tree and that there was "someone down in front of my house."

The neighbour never mentions Woods by name and some of the call is inaudible because of a bad connection.

"I see him, and he's laying down," the neighbour said. The call ends when the neighbour goes outside to check on Woods and his phone loses reception.

Police had expected to meet with Woods and his wife, Elin, on Sunday at about 3 p.m. as part of their investigation into the incident.

Police attempted to speak with Woods on Friday, but his wife told them he was sleeping. On Saturday, Woods' agent told police that the PGA star and his wife would not be available for an interview until Sunday.

"It is unusual that we haven't gotten a statement," Montes. "This just delays us to getting closer to the completion of the investigation."

Even though Woods is a world-famous athlete, he has rarely faced private scrutiny.

His wife won nearly $200,000 in a settlement with an Irish magazine that published a fake nude photo of her. And Woods was awarded $1.6 million from a lawsuit against the builder of his yacht, who used his name and photos of the boat to promote his business.

Woods was scheduled to host his annual Chevron World Challenge tournament to benefit the Tiger Woods Foundation, among other charities on Dec. 3 in California. It is unclear as of right now if he will play or even attend that event.

He won his last tournament, the JBWere masters, in Melbourne, Australia, on November 15.

The couple's $2.4 million home is located in a walled community known as Isleworth that's set on a golf course designed by Arnold Palmer, and has its own security force. A number of executives, sports stars and celebrities live there.

With files from The Associated Press