Tiger Woods reacts after holing his bogey putt on the seventeenth inexperienced throughout the second spherical at Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership, Augusta, Georgia, US, April 8, 2023. — Reuters
Tiger Woods’ turbulent profession veered into recent turmoil on Friday when the golf icon was arrested and charged with driving underneath the affect after a rollover crash close to his Florida dwelling, authorities mentioned.
Woods, 50, escaped damage however was detained after his car clipped a truck whereas trying to overhaul on a residential street on Jupiter Island, flipping onto its aspect earlier than sliding to a cease.
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek mentioned Woods — who was arrested for driving underneath the affect in 2017 — confirmed indicators of “impairment”, though he handed a breathalyser check.Â
“When it came time for us to ask for a urinalysis test, he refused, and so he’s been charged with DUI, with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test in the crash,” Budensiek mentioned.
The 15-time main champion was launched afterward Friday, with Florida legislation requiring him to stay in jail for at the very least eight hours earlier than he may publish bail.
Budensiek mentioned drug recognition consultants who examined Woods on the scene discovered the golfer “lethargic” and believed he was impaired with “some kind of medication or drug.”
No medication or treatment have been present in his car and since Woods refused the urine check, his proper underneath Florida legislation, authorities “will never get definitive results as to what he was impaired on at the time of the crash,” Budensiek mentioned.
‘May have been worse’
Whereas neither Woods nor the driving force of the opposite car was injured, Budensiek mentioned the incident on the two-lane street “could have been a lot worse.”
“Had somebody been moving in the opposite direction, we would not be having a conversation saying there was no injuries,” he mentioned.
Budensiek mentioned he did not understand how quick Woods was driving within the moments earlier than the crash.
He mentioned the driving force of the truck had slowed to make a flip, then tried to maneuver to the aspect of the street when he noticed Woods’s fast-moving car trying to overhaul him.
“When I show you the photos, they kind of speak for themselves … you can see that [Woods] slid for a decent space before he came to a stop,” mentioned the sheriff, who mentioned that after the crash Woods climbed out of the passenger-side window of his Land Rover.
President Donald Trump expressed sympathy for Woods in remarks to reporters in Miami following the incident.
“He’s got some difficulty, there was an accident, and that’s all I know,” Trump mentioned. “Very close friend of mine. He’s an amazing person, amazing man, but, uh, some difficulty.”
Woods was arrested in Jupiter in 2017 after police discovered him asleep on the wheel of his broken automotive. Woods ultimately pleaded responsible to reckless driving and mentioned he had taken a mixture of painkillers.
5 years in the past, Woods was concerned in a critical automotive crash in California that left him with extreme proper leg accidents that required pins inserted in his foot and ankle and a rod in his tibia in addition to a follow-up surgical procedure in 2023.
Woods returned from that crash on the 2022 Masters, the place he struggled to stroll all 4 rounds on the way in which to a Forty seventh-place end.
Woods, whose clean-cut picture was left in tatters after a 2009 intercourse scandal that upended his profession, has been working to return from an Achilles tendon rupture final March and again surgical procedure final October.
He competed earlier this week within the TGL simulator indoor golf league finals and had not dominated out taking part in in subsequent month’s Masters, the place his 5 victories embody his first main title in 1997 and his most up-to-date in 2019.
“This body … it doesn’t recover like it did when it was 24, 25. It doesn´t mean I’m not trying,” Woods mentioned. “I keep trying.”
Woods, whose 82 PGA Tour profession victories are stage with Sam Snead for the all-time file, has not competed on tour since lacking the lower on the British Open in July 2024.
He final made the lower on the 2024 Masters, the place he completed sixtieth.
