Tiger Woods spent eight hours in custody on Friday after being involved in a car crash with a rollover and no injuries a few miles from his home in Florida. The Californian golfer, winner of 15 majors, tested negative in breathalyser tests, but refused a urine test. The officers who attended the scene considered he was not fit to drive and he was arrested
After posting bail, the Tigre was released. Fortunately for his physical condition and that of the other person involved, nobody suffered personal injuries. But Woods adds a new page to his already worrying motoring record, with four incidents since 2009, some of them quite serious and directly affecting his sporting career
Tiger crashed into a fire hydrant in 2009
The first incident occurred on 27 November 2009 when Woods crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree outside his house, near Orlando, in Florida, at half past two in the morning. The Florida Highway Patrol attended the scene and found the golfer with cuts to his face. His then wife, Elin Nordegren, was at the scene and told officers she had used a golf club to break the rear window of the vehicle and help the golfer out of the car
Authorities determined that Tiger had been responsible for what happened, but he faced no charges beyond a traffic fine for negligent driving. The accident occurred a couple of days after reports first emerged about Woods‘ infidelities. After the events, further reports appeared for which the player publicly apologised before taking a long break from professional golf and divorcing a few months later
Found asleep in a car on the highway in 2017
After several years without major wins, Tiger suffered his second car-related incident. In May 2017 he was arrested in Jupiter, Florida, on suspicion of drunk driving. Police found him asleep in his Mercedes at three in the morning, stopped in the right-hand lane of a motorway. The car’s engine was running. Woods pleaded guilty to reckless driving, but explained the incident was due to an “unexpected reaction” to several prescribed medications taken simultaneously
Among them, Tiger had taken Vicodin, Xanax, Ambien, Dilaudid and TGC. The golfer said he was self-medicating to relieve back pain after the spinal fusion he underwent in April 2017. As yesterday, breathalyser tests at the scene were negative. After the incident, Woods completed an alternative programme for offenders convicted of driving under the influence
Serious crash in Los Angeles in 2021
Of Woods‘ four car incidents, the most serious was undoubtedly that of 23 February 2021. The player was driving his Genesis SUV at more than 80 miles per hour on a winding road in Los Angeles en route to a photo shoot, three months after his latest back operation, a microdiscectomy. His car crossed the median, hit a tree and was launched into the air before coming to rest in the undergrowth
The Los Angeles County sheriff, Alex Villanueva, said there were no signs of intoxication and that Woods was wearing a seatbelt. Investigators, meanwhile, indicated they believed Woods accidentally hit the accelerator when he intended to brake. The golfer had to be rescued by firefighters after being trapped inside the vehicle, and was rushed to hospital to be operated on for serious injuries, especially to his right leg and ankle
“I was lucky to be alive and also to keep a leg”, said Tiger in November 2021 during the Hero World Challenge. That accident left him with significant sequelae and forced him to undergo several further operations. Since then, on the same leg, he suffered plantar fasciitis in late 2022 and had to undergo a subtalar arthrodesis of the ankle due to arthritis in the area
Between the two surgeries, Woods played the Masters in 2022, making the cut, withdrew from the PGA Championship and missed the cut at The Open Championship. He also withdrew from the Masters in 2023, later undergoing surgery on his right ankle. His last major was the Open Championship in 2024. In September that same year he underwent a microdecompression in his sixth back operation. And while preparing his return to golf in 2025, he suffered a rupture of the left Achilles tendon
🚨🐅📸 #PHOTO — Tiger Woods was seen leaving jail this evening after getting picked up in an Escalade.
(Photo: Christopher Oquendo) pic.twitter.com/nf4KqzOYKa
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) March 28, 2026
His most recent surgery was in October 2025, when he underwent a lumbar disc replacement, the seventh back operation since 2014. On Tuesday this week he made his first competitive appearance by hitting a ball in the TGL, the indoor league he co‑founded with Rory McIlroy. Barely three days later, he is involved in this fourth motoring incident from which, fortunately, he emerged unhurt. It remains to be seen whether he will play the Masters this year, which starts in less than two weeks. He was also due to attend the traditional Champions Dinner in Augusta
