Fifteen-time main champion Tiger Woods was arrested Friday on suspicion of drunk driving after a automotive crash close to his residence on Jupiter Island, Florida, Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek stated.
Sheriff’s officers stated Woods was driving his Land Rover northbound on South Seashore Street at a excessive charge of velocity when he tried to go a truck carrying a stress washer, who slowed to get right into a driveway.
Woods’ SUV swerved to keep away from the truck, however hit the again of the trailer. The Land Rover overturned and slid down the street. Budensiek stated Woods climbed out of the passenger window to get out of the car.
Budensiek stated Woods and the opposite driver weren’t injured. The accident occurred round 2:00 p.m. ET.
Woods, 50, was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor DUI with legal injury to property and refusing to undergo a authorized check.
Woods arrived on the jail at 3 p.m., and the sheriff stated he could be held for eight hours below Florida legislation.
Martin County Sheriff’s Division DUI investigators on the scene decided that Woods confirmed indicators of impairment.
“They ran some checks on him,” Budensiek stated. “After all he described the damage and the surgical procedure he had. We took that under consideration, however they did some detailed street testing.”
Investigators arrested Woods and transported him to the Martin County Jail. The sheriff stated a breathalyzer check of Woods confirmed no indicators of alcohol. The sheriff stated Woods refused to undergo a urine check for different medication.
“He is been cooperative, however he wasn’t making an attempt to incriminate himself,” Budensiek stated. “So he was cautious about what he stated and what he did not say.”
DUI investigators believed Woods was not impaired by alcohol on the scene.
“They consider it was some form of drug or medication,” Budensiek stated, including that no medication or medication have been present in Woods’ SUV.
The sheriff didn’t understand how quick Woods was driving.
“However I can inform you this: The velocity restrict is 30 miles per hour,” Budensiek stated. “And after I present you the photographs, they appear to talk for themselves.
“You possibly can see the place he clipped the again of the trailer. You possibly can see the place he rolled. And as he slowed down, he slid over the driving force’s door of the automotive. You possibly can see that he slid a substantial distance earlier than he stopped.”
Budensiek stated the end result may need been completely different if one other car had been touring southbound on the time of the crash.
“We’re not going to have the dialog the place we are saying there have been no accidents,” he stated.
President Donald Trump, who stated he’s a “very shut good friend” of Mr. Woods, reacted to the information, telling reporters at a rally in Miami on Friday: “I really feel very unhealthy. He is going by way of some bother. There was an accident, and that is all I do know. A really shut good friend of mine.”
“He is a terrific man, a terrific man, however he has some challenges,” he added, in keeping with ABC Information.
This isn’t the primary time Woods has been accused of drunk driving. He was arrested in Jupiter in Could 2017 after police discovered him asleep on the wheel of his automotive, which had two flat tires and broken entrance and rear bumpers.
Woods stated the mix of painkillers was unhealthy. He later pleaded responsible to reckless driving.
In February 2021, Woods sustained critical leg accidents in a single-car crash exterior Los Angeles, throughout which his SUV rolled over a number of instances and left him trapped inside. He then underwent emergency surgical procedure for an “open fracture” in his decrease proper leg, with a rod inserted into his tibia and screws and pins inserted into his foot and ankle. Woods was hospitalized for 3 weeks after surgical procedure.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva stated on the time that Woods’ automotive was touring between 84 and 137 mph in a forty five mph velocity restrict.
“I am fortunate to be alive and have limbs,” Woods stated on the 2021 Hero World Problem within the Bahamas. He stated it was 50-50 whether or not a part of his proper leg may need been amputated.
He underwent at the very least yet one more surgical procedure associated to accidents from the April 2023 accident.
Woods has spent the previous few months recovering from a torn Achilles tendon and one other hip surgical procedure in October. He competed in Tuesday’s TGL finals for the primary time in over a 12 months, however his Jupiter Hyperlinks GC workforce misplaced to Los Angeles Golf Membership.
He was contemplating whether or not to return to the PGA Tour for the season’s first main, the Masters at Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership, which begins on April ninth.
Woods final performed on the PGA Tour in July 2024, when he missed the reduce on the British Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Membership in Scotland. The final time he performed 4 rounds in a PGA Tour occasion was the 2024 Masters.
Though Woods has spent many of the previous six years away from competitors, he has been deeply concerned in shaping the way forward for the PGA Tour as chairman of the Future Competitors Committee. He’s additionally the Participant Director for the PGA Tour Coverage Committee and PGA Tour Enterprises, the Tour’s industrial arm.
