Tiger Woods was arrested on DUI charges after rolling his Land Rover in a crash near his Jupiter Island home, marking the golfer’s fourth auto-related incident and second DUI arrest. Woods showed signs of impairment and was arrested at the scene of the crash in which he struck another vehicle, authorities said. Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said Woods did a Breathalyzer test, which came out negative, but refused to take a urine test. “Neither Woods nor the person in the other vehicle was injured,” Budensiek said.
Woods was charged with driving under the influence with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test, both misdemeanors. The crash occurred not far from his home on Jupiter Island. Woods struck another vehicle before his Land Rover rolled over during the incident. The golfer showed signs of impairment when deputies arrived at the scene.
This marks Woods’ second DUI arrest, following a 2017 incident when South Florida police found him asleep behind the wheel of his car with the engine running. Woods was charged with driving under the influence in 2017 when police discovered his car parked in a traffic lane with damage to the driver’s side. Woods said he had taken a mix of prescription painkillers and had a bad reaction. He pleaded guilty to reckless driving in 2017 and agreed to complete a first-time DUI offender program to stay out of jail, receiving a year of probation, a small fine and community service.
The latest arrest adds to Woods’ history of serious vehicle incidents, including a near-fatal crash in California that nearly cost him his leg. In February 2021, Woods survived a rollover crash in which his SUV ran off a coastal road in Los Angeles County at high speed, leading to multiple leg and ankle injuries. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Woods was driving between 84 and 87 miles per hour on a winding road with a speed limit of 45 miles per hour when he crashed. Doctors said Woods shattered the tibia and fibula bones of his lower right leg in multiple locations, with those injuries stabilized with a rod in the tibia.
Woods spent three months immobilized with a makeshift hospital bed set up in his Florida home before he could start moving around on crutches and eventually walk on his own. He said the idea of amputating his right leg “was on the table.” Additional injuries to the bones in the foot and ankle required screws and pins. Woods did not play on the PGA Tour that year but returned to the Masters in 2022.
The golfer’s auto incidents date back to 2009, when he ran out of his home in Orlando and drove his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant and a tree in his neighbor’s yard about 2:30 a.m. That crash came two days after the National Enquirer published a story alleging Woods had been seeing a New York nightclub hostess. The Windermere police chief at the time said officers found Woods lying in the street with his then-wife, Elin Nordegren, hovering over him. The chief said Nordegren told officers she was in the house when she heard the crash and “came out and broke the back window with a golf club.” Woods had lacerations to his upper and lower lips and blood in his mouth.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office will continue investigating the Jupiter Island crash as Woods faces the misdemeanor charges. Court proceedings for the DUI charges are expected to be scheduled in the coming weeks.