Tiger Woods had glassy, bloodshot eyes and prescription drugs in his pocket after rollover crash, arrest affidavit says

By Holly Yan, Meridith Edwards, CNN

(CNN) — After Tiger Woods veered toward oncoming traffic Friday and suffered his latest rollover crash, the golf legend failed a field sobriety test and was in no condition to drive, according to an arrest affidavit released Tuesday.

The 50-year-old had bloodshot, glassy eyes with “extremely dilated pupils,” wrote a sheriff’s deputy in Martin County, Florida, not far from Woods’ home.

His Land Rover crossed double solid lines and “maneuvered around” another vehicle with an attached trailer. Woods struck that trailer, causing his SUV to flip onto its driver’s side, the affidavit said.

The other driver helped Woods out of the overturned vehicle from the passenger side, since the SUV’s driver’s side was pinned to the ground, the affidavit said.

The 82-time PGA Tour winner was charged with driving under the influence with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test — both misdemeanors. His arraignment is scheduled for April 23. CNN has reached out to Woods’ representative for comment.

His driver’s license has been suspended, court documents show.

Woods — whose legal first name is Eldrick — told the deputy he did not notice the other vehicle slowing down because he was looking at his cell phone and changing the radio station, the affidavit says.

He told deputies he had not consumed any alcohol but had taken “a few” prescription medications earlier that day. Two white pills identified as hydrocodone were found in his left pants pocket during a search after his arrest, the affidavit said. Hydrocodone is a prescription opioid used to treat severe, chronic pain.

Due to Woods’ physical limitations — he told deputies he has had seven back surgeries and more than 20 operations on his leg — he performed some of the tests while seated on a patrol vehicle’s bumper, the affidavit said.

Woods made multiple errors during field sobriety exercises, such as starting before being instructed to do so and not counting steps correctly, the deputy wrote.

“Woods continuously moved his head from side to side and had to be instructed several times to keep his head straight,” the deputy wrote.

He was lethargic and sweating profusely, the deputy said. Woods also “had hiccups during the entire investigation,” she wrote.

The deputy concluded that “Woods’ normal faculties were impaired, and he was unable to safely operate the motor vehicle,” according to the affidavit. Woods was arrested shortly after 3 p.m.

The crash marks the latest setback for the 15-time major winner as he was attempting another comeback after years of injuries and car accidents.

A breath test taken at the Martin County Jail registered 0.000 on both samples, indicating no alcohol was detected, the affidavit says. But Woods refused to submit to a urine test to determine the presence of chemical or controlled substances.

Woods was not injured in the crash and was seen leaving the Martin County Jail late Friday, CNN affiliate WPBF reported.

The circumstances of his arrest bore similarities to his May 2017 arrest, after which prescription drugs were found in his system – including hydrocodone.

Woods pleaded guilty to reckless driving in that case. His 12-month probation was contingent on completing recommended treatment, including DUI school, 50 hours of community service and random drug and alcohol testing.

In 2009, Woods was cited for careless driving. And in 2021, he was hospitalized after a serious rollover crash in Los Angeles County that investigators ruled was an accident.

Since then, Woods has played in 11 tournaments but finished only four. It’s not clear whether he will play in next month’s Masters Tournament.

After a TGL indoor golf league match last week, Woods said he was “trying” to return to competitive golf, but his “body doesn’t recover like when I was 24/25.”

“I’ve had a couple bad injuries here in the past year,” Woods told reporters after the match. “I’ve had to fight through, it’s taken some time. But I keep trying. I want to play.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN’s Jacob Lev, Kyle Feldscher and Chenelle Woody contributed to this report.

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