Miami (AFP) – Tiger Woods’ turbulent career veered into fresh turmoil on Friday when the golf icon was arrested and charged with driving under the influence after a rollover crash near his Florida home, authorities said. Woods, 50, escaped injury but was detained after his vehicle clipped a truck while attempting to overtake on a residential road on Jupiter Island, flipping over before sliding to a stop.
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said Woods — who was arrested for driving under the influence in 2017 — showed signs of “impairment”, though he passed a breathalyzer test. However, he was formally charged with driving under the influence after refusing to take a urine analysis test, Budensiek said. “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 said.
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The sheriff said drug recognition experts who examined Woods at the scene believed the golfer was impaired with “some kind of medication or drug.” However, under Florida law, Budensiek said, Woods was entitled to refuse a urine test. “We will never get definitive results as to what he was impaired on at the time of the crash,” Budensiek told reporters.
– ‘Could have been worse’ –
While neither Woods nor the driver of the other vehicle was injured, Budensiek said the incident “could have been a lot worse.” “This is a small two-lane road,” he said. “Had somebody been moving in the opposite direction, we would not be having a conversation saying there were no injuries.”
Asked to estimate how fast Woods had been driving in the moments before the crash, Budensiek replied: “The answer is I can’t. But I can tell you this — it’s a 30 mile an hour speed limit. When I show you the photos, they kind of speak for themselves…you can see that he slid for a decent space before he came to a stop.”
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 said. “Very close friend of mine. He’s an amazing person, amazing man, but, uh, some difficulty.”
Under Florida DUI laws, Woods will be detained for a minimum of eight hours at a local jail before being released. Friday’s incident comes five years after Woods was involved in a serious car crash in California that left him with severe right leg injuries.
The 15-time major winner needed pins inserted in his foot and ankle and a rod in his tibia as well as a follow-up surgery in 2023. Woods returned from the 2021 crash at the 2022 Masters, where he finished 47th despite struggling to walk Augusta National for all four rounds.
Woods, whose clean-cut image was left in tatters after a 2009 sex scandal that upended his career, has been working to return from an Achilles tendon rupture last March and back surgery last October. He competed earlier this week in the TGL simulator indoor golf league finals and had not ruled out playing in next month’s Masters.
He has won five times at Augusta, including his first major title in 1997 and his most recent in 2019. Woods, whose 82 PGA Tour career victories is level with Sam Snead for the all-time record, has not competed at the PGA Tour level since missing the cut at the British Open at Royal Troon in July 2024. He last made the cut at the 2024 Masters, where he finished 60th.
© 2024 AFP
