Fifteen-time major champion Tiger Woods was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence Friday after his SUV crashed near his Jupiter Island, Florida, home, Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said.
According to the sheriff, Woods was driving a Land Rover northbound on South Beach Road at high speed when he attempted to pass a truck towing a pressure washer that had slowed to turn into a driveway. The Land Rover clipped the back of the trailer, rolled onto its side and slid down the roadway. Woods climbed out through the passenger-side window. The other driver and Woods were not injured. The crash happened at about 2 p.m. ET.
Woods, 50, was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor DUI with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test, Budensiek said. He arrived at the county jail around 3 p.m. and was released on bail later that day, Christine Weiss, a spokesperson for the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, said. Under Florida law, he had to remain in custody for at least eight hours before he could post bail.
Investigators at the scene determined Woods showed signs of impairment and conducted several field sobriety tests, Budensiek said. They took into account Woods’ prior injuries and surgeries when evaluating his performance on those tests. A breathalyzer did not detect alcohol, and Woods declined a urinalysis for other drugs, the sheriff said.
Deputies said they believed impairment was caused by some type of medication or drug, though no drugs or medications were found inside the SUV. “He is cooperative, but he was not trying to incriminate himself,” Budensiek said.
The sheriff did not provide a specific speed for Woods’ vehicle but noted the posted speed limit on that stretch of road is 30 mph. Budensiek described crash photos that show where the Land Rover struck the trailer, rolled and slid on its driver’s door for a significant distance before coming to rest. He said the outcome could have been much worse if another vehicle had been traveling southbound at the time.
President Donald Trump, whom Budensiek and others say is a close friend of Woods, commented on the news in Miami. “He’s got some difficulty. There was an accident, and that’s all I know,” Trump said, calling Woods “an amazing person, amazing man.”
This incident is not Woods’ first run-in with DUI-related charges. In May 2017, he was arrested in Jupiter after officers found him asleep at the wheel of a running car that had two flat tires and front and rear bumper damage. At that time Woods said he had taken a bad mixture of prescription pain medications and later pleaded guilty to reckless driving.
Woods also endured life-threatening injuries in a February 2021 single-vehicle crash outside Los Angeles when his SUV rolled multiple times. He suffered open fractures to his lower right leg and underwent emergency surgery that included a rod in his tibia and hardware in his foot and ankle. Authorities then reported the vehicle had been traveling between 84 and 87 mph in a 45 mph zone. Woods later described himself as fortunate to have retained his limb and acknowledged amputation had been a real possibility. He had additional surgery related to that crash in April 2023.
More recently, Woods has been recovering from a ruptured Achilles tendon and had back surgery in October. He returned to competition this week at the TGL finals for the first time in more than a year; his Jupiter Links GC team lost to the Los Angeles Golf Club. Woods had been considering a return to the PGA Tour for the Masters at Augusta National, which begins April 9.
He last played on the PGA Tour in July 2024, missing the cut at the Open Championship at Royal Troon. His most recent four-round PGA Tour start was the 2024 Masters. Though he has been sidelined from regular competition for much of the past several years, Woods remains active in tour governance as chairman of the future competition committee and as a player director on the PGA Tour policy board and PGA Tour Enterprises.
This report includes information from The Associated Press.
