Tiger Woods is out on bail after he was charged Friday with suspicion of driving under the influence and refusing to submit to a drug test on Florida's Treasure Coast. It was the second time the legendary golfer has been charged with suspicion of DUI; police in Jupiter filed a DUI charge against Woods in 2017 after law enforcement found him asleep at the wheel of his Mercedes-Benz, which was stopped partially on the shoulder and partly in the road. At the time, Woods said the cause was prescription medications he was taking, and he ultimately pleaded guilty to reckless driving along with saying he would go into a diversion program.
The Jupiter Island crash also is the third for Woods. In 2009, shortly after Thanksgiving, his SUV slammed into a fire hydrant and a tree near his home in the Orlando area. That crash was followed by the life of the then-top ranked golfer in the world unraveling, as reports of his multiple affairs soon became one of the biggest stories in the country. His wife divorced him, some of his corporate sponsors cut ties, and Woods stayed away from golf for months.
His second crash, in Southern California, happened in 2021 when his SUV rolled over. At the time, law enforcement said Woods was going nearly twice the 45-miles-per-hour speed limited. The crash, as the Associated Press reported, left Woods with fractures in his right leg, and "doctors needed to insert a rod, screws and pins to stabilize Woods’ leg."
In the case of Woods's most recent crash, Martin County sheriff John Budensiek spoke to the press directly. He told the assembled reporters that law enforcement got a call Friday shortly before 2 p.m. reporting a rollover crash on South Beach Road. Jupiter Island police went to the scene, where they found a pickup truck that had been pulling a trailer with pressure cleaner and a Land Rover rolled over onto its side, the driver's side door on the ground.
"Initially, right off the top, it did appear that the driver of the Land Rover might be impaired," Budensiek said.
That's when Jupiter Island's police chief, Michael Ewing, called the Martin County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) and asked for their help, Budensiek said, due to the larger agency's experience in handling traffic crashes. A secluded, lush, and narrow barrier island off the coast of Martin County—with the Atlantic Ocean on one side, and the Indian River Lagoon followed by Jonathan Dickinson State Park to the other—Jupiter Island has a permanent population of less than 1,000 people. It also is one of the most expensive communities in the entire United States, though known for keeping a quieter profile than places like glitzier Palm Beach to the south. The town is very poplar with retired golfers, though other famous people have bought homes there too, including college football legend Nick Saban.
MCSO conducted its investigation and, Budensiek said, deputies found that the pickup truck had been driving on South Beach Road when it started slowing down so it could turn into a driveway. The diver then looked in the rearview mirror and saw the Land Rover, driven by Woods, behind him but "overtaking him at high speeds," Budensiek said. The sheriff didn't know how fast exactly Woods was driving, but did say that the street has a 30 mph speed limit and the photos of the crash would "speak for themselves."
The truck driver, realizing what might happen, "tried to edge off to the side of the road," the sheriff said. But Beach Road is very narrow—it's one lane each way—so there wasn't a full shoulder for the truck to use. As the truck driver tried to get out of the way, Woods's Land Rover swerved at the last minute to avoid a crash, the sheriff said, but did clip the back end of the trailer, causing it to roll over. Woods crawled out the passenger door before law enforcement arrived.
No other vehicles were involved, and no one was in the other lane at the time. As Budensiek said: "This could have been a lot worse."
DUI investigators went to the scene and found, Budensiek said, that "Mr. Woods did exemplify signs of impairment." The deputies did not think alcohol was the cause, Budensiek said, and instead suspected it was some type of medication or drug. Woods blew "triple zeroes" on a breath test for alcohol, Budensiek said, but later refused to provide a urine sample. No drugs or medication were found in the car.
"He is cooperative but he was not trying to incriminate himself. So he was careful in what he said and didn't say," Budensiek said. "And when it came time again for the test, the urine test at the jail, he stopped that."
Woods has largely been absent from competitive golf since the 2021 crash; he hasn’t competed in an official PGA Tour event since the 2024 Open Championship, where he missed the cut. There had been speculation he might compete in this year’s Masters—winners are exempt for life—but a man who claims to be Woods’s close friend said Thursday the golfer is expected to miss the tournament.
