US golfer arrested in relation to rollover crash in Florida that did not cause any significant injuries.
Tiger Woods was released on bail late Friday, hours after his Land Rover clipped a truck, rolled onto its side and he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, officials said.
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said Woods had been travelling at “high speeds” on a residential road and, after the crash, showed “signs of impairment.” Investigators believe he had taken some kind of medication or drug.
Budensiek described Woods as lethargic. Woods agreed to a breathalyser test, which showed no signs of alcohol, but he refused a urine test and was arrested. The sheriff said Woods has the right to refuse a urine test and that, as a result, authorities “will never get definitive results with what he was impaired on.”
The crash happened just before 2pm (18:00 GMT) near Woods’s home on Jupiter Island. He was booked at the Martin County jail in Stuart at about 3pm and released on bail about eight hours later—the minimum allowed under state law, Budensiek said. Woods, 50, was not injured and was held separate from other inmates.
According to the sheriff, Woods was attempting to pass a pressure-cleaner truck on a two-lane road with a 48 kilometres-per-hour (30 mph) speed limit. Authorities could not determine his exact speed. The Land Rover swerved to avoid a collision while passing, clipped the back end of the truck’s trailer, rolled onto its driver’s side, and Woods crawled out.
Budensiek said Woods was “cooperative, but he’s not trying to incriminate himself.”
This is the second time Woods has been arrested on a DUI-related charge not involving alcohol. In 2017 authorities found him asleep behind the wheel with the engine running and damage to the driver’s side; he said then he had taken a bad mix of prescription painkillers and later pleaded guilty to reckless driving.
The incident is also the fourth crash involving Woods. In February 2021, his SUV ran off a coastal road in Los Angeles at high speed, causing multiple leg and ankle injuries; doctors later said amputation had been considered. Woods has also suffered multiple knee and back injuries during his golf career.
Woods returned from multiple back surgeries to win the 2019 Masters for his 15th major and is tied with Sam Snead with 82 PGA Tour wins. Since the 2021 Los Angeles crash, he has played 11 tournaments without finishing closer than 16 shots to the winner, managing to complete all four rounds only four times.
Friday’s arrest comes as Woods was deciding whether he was fit to play the Masters, which begins on April 9. He was due in Augusta on April 5 to unveil a golf course project with Masters chairman Fred Ridley. He was also nearing a “soft deadline” to decide whether to accept the US Ryder Cup captaincy for the 2027 matches in Ireland.
Woods has been recovering from a seventh back surgery in September. His last official tournament appearance was the 2024 British Open; he ruptured his Achilles tendon in March 2025, sidelining him for that season before the back surgery. He did play in the indoor TGL league on Tuesday.
“I’m trying. Put it that way,” Woods said at last month’s Genesis Invitational when asked about returning to competitive play. “The disc replacement has been one thing … I’ve had a fused back and now a disc replacement, so it’s challenging.”