The breathalyser came back clean. The urine test never happened.

That is the territory Tiger Woods re-entered on Friday — arrested on a driving under the influence charge after rolling his Land Rover on a two-lane road near his Florida home, then refusing the test that could have clarified what was in his system.

The Martin County Sheriff’s Office charged Woods, 50, with DUI with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test, both misdemeanours. Under Florida law, he must remain in jail for at least eight hours before being released on bond.

The crash

The incident unfolded just before 2 p.m. on Beach Road in Jupiter Island, a wealthy barrier community where Woods lives. Sheriff John Budensiek told a press conference that Woods was attempting to overtake a pressure cleaner truck pulling a trailer at “a high rate of speed.” The truck’s driver told investigators he was beginning to turn into a driveway when he saw the Land Rover approaching fast, tried to pull off the road, but Woods swerved at the last moment and clipped the back of the trailer.

Woods’s vehicle rolled onto its driver’s side. He crawled out through the passenger door before law enforcement arrived. Neither Woods nor the driver of the other vehicle was injured.

Signs of impairment

DUI investigators who arrived at the scene determined Woods was showing signs of impairment. He told officers he had taken medication for prior injuries, according to law enforcement officials.

Sheriff Budensiek said Woods was “co-operative but was trying not to incriminate himself.” A breathalyser test administered at the scene and at Martin County Jail returned what Budensiek described as “triple zeros” — no trace of alcohol.

“We were really not suspicious of alcohol being involved in this case, and that proved to be true,” Budensiek told reporters.

But when investigators requested a urine test, Woods refused. Under Florida law, that refusal carries its own charge — and means authorities will never have a definitive chemical reading.

“He has a right to refuse that test,” Budensiek said. “There is a statute which he will be charged with for refusing to take that test, but we will never get definitive results as to what he was impaired on at the time of the crash.”

A familiar pattern

The arrest echoes a 2017 incident in which Jupiter police found Woods asleep at the wheel of his parked Mercedes-Benz, not far from Friday’s crash site. A toxicology report later identified several prescription medications and THC in his system. Woods pleaded guilty to reckless driving and subsequently checked himself into a clinic to address prescription medication use.

Car crashes have punctuated Woods’s post-prime years with grim regularity. In 2009, he struck a fire hydrant and a tree outside his home in a collision that unravelled his marriage and several sponsorship deals. In February 2021, he was driving at least twice the 45 mph speed limit on a suburban road in Southern California when his SUV struck a tree and launched through the air, leaving him with severe leg fractures. Doctors later considered amputation. He was not charged in that crash, though investigators drew criticism for failing to obtain a blood sample.

Augusta and beyond

The timing is difficult. Woods had only just returned to something resembling competitive golf — playing in the finals of his TGL indoor league on Tuesday, his first competitive appearance since missing the cut at the 2024 British Open. Since the 2021 crash, he has played 11 tournaments and never finished closer than 16 shots to the winner in the four times he completed 72 holes.

The Masters begins on April 9. Woods, a five-time champion at Augusta National, had not confirmed whether his body would allow him to compete after an Achilles tendon rupture in March 2025 and back surgery later that year. That question now has company.

He also faces a soft end-of-month deadline to decide whether to accept the US Ryder Cup captaincy for the 2027 matches in Ireland.

U.S. President Donald Trump, asked about the crash, said: “I feel so badly. He’s got some difficulty. There was an accident. That’s all I know. He’s a very close friend of mine, he’s an amazing person, an amazing man.”

Woods’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

Sources