Tiger Woods out on bail after arrest on suspicion of DUI following car crash

MIAMI – Tiger Woods’ turbulent career veered into fresh turmoil on March 27, when the golf icon was arrested and charged with driving under the influence (DUI) after a rollover crash near his Florida home, the authorities said.

He has since been released from jail after posting bail.

The 50-year-old 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 drink driving in 2017 – showed signs of “impairment”, though he passed a breathalyser test.

However, the American was formally charged with DUI after refusing to take a urine analysis test, he added.

“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,” he said.

The sheriff also said drug recognition experts who examined Woods at the scene believed that the golfer was impaired with “some kind of medication or drug”.

However, under Florida law, Budensiek said, he 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,” he told reporters.

While neither Woods nor the driver of the other vehicle was injured, Budensiek added that 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 was 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 (48kmh) 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.”

US President Donald Trump expressed sympathy for Woods in remarks to reporters in Miami following the incident.

“I feel so badly. There was an accident. He’s got some difficulty. There was an accident, and that’s all I know,” he said.

“A very close friend of mine. He’s an amazing person, amazing man.”

The president had earlier claimed that Woods would not be playing in the Masters in April, seemingly because of his well-documented recent injuries and surgeries, even though the player himself has remained mum about his plans for the April 9-12 event.

Woods was released later on March 27, with Florida law requiring him to remain in jail for at least eight hours before he could post bail.

The 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 operation 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.

The golfer, 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 in March 2025 and back surgery last October.

He competed earlier this week in the TGL simulator indoor golf league finals which his Jupiter Links Golf Club team lost and had not ruled out playing in the 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. AFP, REUTERS