After crashing his SUV in Florida last week, Tiger Woods pulled out his cell phone and told a deputy he was “just talking to the president,” body camera footage released Thursday shows Woods was arrested on drunken driving charges.
The phone conversation was not captured on video, but Woods can be heard saying “Thank you very much” as he hung up and the deputy approached him. It’s unclear whether Woods was referring to President Donald Trump, whose ex-daughter-in-law Vanessa Trump is dating Woods.
Immediately after Woods’ arrest on March 27, President Trump was asked about Woods and told reporters: “I feel very bad. He’s going through some trouble. He’s a very close friend of mine. He’s a great person. He’s a great guy. But he’s going through a little bit.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump spoke with Woods after the crash.
Footage also showed Woods looking surprised after failing a breathalyzer test and being handcuffed, while footage from the back of the police car showed the handcuffed golfer hiccuping, yawning and nodding repeatedly during the 15-minute run.
Woods told authorities that he was checking his cell phone and changing radio stations when his speeding Land Rover crashed into the back of a truck on a residential road on Jupiter Island and overturned. There were no injuries.
Before his arrest, Woods told officers as he knelt on the grass, “I looked down at my cell phone and all of a sudden I heard a bang.”
Body camera footage shows Martin County Sheriff’s Deputy Tatiana Revenner administering a road sobriety test and telling Woods, “I believe your normal faculties are impaired, and because you have been exposed to an unknown substance, you are being arrested for DUI at this time.”
“Am I going to be arrested?” Woods replied.
“Yes, sir,” Revenor said.
After handcuffing Woods, authorities searched his pockets and found two white pills.
After the officer removed the pills, Woods said, “That’s Norco,” referring to painkillers containing acetaminophen and the opioid hydrocodone. Authorities later determined that Woods was in possession of hydrocodone.
In the body camera footage, Woods told Lebener that he had not had any alcohol and had taken “several” drugs earlier in the day, but Woods’ words are silenced in the released video as he describes several drugs.
“I’m not drunk. I’m on prescription medication,” Woods said after being taken to the DUI room where he was tested for drunken driving, according to a supplemental sheriff’s office report released Thursday.
Woods, 50, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to the charge of driving under the influence. He released a statement Tuesday night saying he would be stepping away indefinitely “to receive treatment and focus on his health.”
Authorities said Woods agreed to a breathalyzer test, which showed no signs of alcohol, but refused a urine test. A change in Florida law last year made it a misdemeanor to refuse a police officer’s request for a breath, blood or urine test, even for a first-time offender.
During field sobriety tests, deputies noticed Woods was limp and wearing a compression sock on his right knee. Woods said he has had seven back surgeries and more than 20 surgeries on his right leg, which caused his ankle to stiffen when he walked.
According to the arrest report, Woods hiccuped during the interrogation and kept moving his head during sobriety tests, requiring officers to repeatedly ask him to straighten his head.
“Based on my observations of Woods, how he performed the maneuvers, and my training, knowledge, and experience, I believed that Woods’ normal abilities were impaired and that he was incapable of safely operating a motor vehicle,” Revenner wrote.
Woods is one of the most influential figures in golf and has become as famous as any athlete in the world. He became the first African-American to win the Masters in 1997 and has captivated golf fans with records that will likely never be broken.
In 2021, he suffered serious injuries to his right leg in a car accident in Los Angeles, and doctors considered having it amputated. His injuries have prevented him from achieving much more. He has not played in an official match since the 2024 British Open. He was recovering from his seventh back surgery in October and was aiming to make a return at the Masters, where he has won five times.
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Associated Press writer Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida, contributed to this report.
