Tiger Woods was arrested Friday on suspicion of driving beneath the affect after his Land Rover, travelling at “excessive velocity” on a residential street, clipped a truck and rolled onto its aspect.
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek mentioned Woods was capable of crawl out of the passenger aspect and was not injured.
“He did exemplify indicators of an impairment,” Budensiek mentioned, including that investigators consider he had taken “some kind of remedy or drug.” He mentioned Woods agreed to a Breathalyser take a look at that confirmed no indicators of alcohol, however refused a urine take a look at and was arrested.
Underneath Florida legislation, he must spend eight hours in jail earlier than he might submit bail.
Budensiek mentioned the sheriff’s workplace will comply with the legislation no matter who has been accused of against the law. He mentioned Woods was being held in jail however separate from others.
“He’s not going to be with different inmates that might damage him or attempt to capitalise on what he did,” he mentioned. “He’ll pay the value, however he’s not going to pay the value by getting punished in jail.”
It was the second time Woods had been arrested for a DUI, not on account of the affect of alcohol. He mentioned he took a nasty mixture of painkillers when authorities discovered him in 2017 asleep behind the wheel of his automobile, the engine nonetheless working and its driver’s aspect broken. Woods pleaded responsible then to reckless driving.
The crash occurred simply earlier than 2 p.m., not removed from the place Woods lives on Jupiter Island.
Budensiek mentioned Woods tried to move a strain cleaner truck whereas driving on a two-lane street with a 30 mph (48 kph) velocity restrict. He mentioned authorities couldn’t decide how briskly Woods was going.
The Land Rover swerved to keep away from a collision as he was passing the truck, however clipped the again finish of the truck’s trailer, Budensiek mentioned. Woods’ automobile then rolled onto its driver’s aspect.
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The sheriff mentioned Woods was “cooperative, however he’s not attempting to incriminate himself.” He mentioned Woods has the suitable to refuse the urine take a look at and that authorities “won’t ever get definitive outcomes with what he was impaired on.”
Woods’ supervisor at Excel Sports activities didn’t instantly reply to a textual content message searching for remark.
This was the fourth time Woods has been concerned in a automobile crash, most just lately in February 2021, when his SUV ran off a coastal street in Los Angeles at a excessive charge of velocity, resulting in a number of leg and ankle accidents. Woods mentioned later, docs thought of amputation. He additionally beforehand sustained a number of accidents to his left knee and his again throughout his golf profession.
Woods returned from a number of again surgical procedures to win the 2019 Masters for his fifteenth main. His 82 titles on the PGA Tour are tied for the profession file with Sam Snead. Since that LA crash, he has performed 11 tournaments with out being nearer than 16 pictures to the winner, the 4 occasions he was capable of end 72 holes.
Friday’s arrest comes as Woods was attempting to determine if he was match sufficient to play the Masters, which begins April 9. He was additionally to be in Augusta, Georgia, on April 5 to unveil a golf course challenge with Masters chairman Fred Ridley.
Woods additionally was days away from what was described as a “gentle deadline” to determine whether or not to be the U.S. Ryder Cup captain for the 2027 matches in Eire.
Woods, 50, had been working his approach again to golf from a seventh again surgical procedure in September.
His final official event was the British Open in 2024. Woods ruptured his Achilles tendon in March 2025, which stored him off the course all season, even earlier than present process again surgical procedure. He managed to play in his indoor TGL golf league on Tuesday evening.
He has remained deeply concerned in PGA Tour affairs as chair of the Future Competitors Committee that’s restructuring the mannequin of the tour.
Printed on Mar 28, 2026