Tiger Woods has been a household name for the last 20 years having won 14 major golf championships. The golfer is once again in the news, but not for his precision on the links. Woods, 41, was arrested this past Memorial Day Monday on suspicion of driving under the influence.
According to police, Woods was found asleep behind the wheel of his black 2015 Mercedes-Benz in the early morning hours of Monday, Memorial Day. Upon being woken up, Woods had “slow, sluggish and very slurred” speech and was “unable to walk alone.”
Woods told officers that he was coming from Los Angeles, California from golfing.
Field sobriety tests were administered and, according to police, Woods performed poorly. He could not turn and walk on a straight line, maintain a standing position on one leg, or understand the instructions to recite the alphabet.
Although breath test later showed that Woods’s blood alcohol content was 0.00 percent, he later attributed the incident to an “unexpected reaction” to medication.
“I want the public to know that alcohol was not involved. What happened was an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications. I didn’t realize the mix of medications had affected me so strongly,” said Woods in a statement released on Monday.
Woods has recently struggled with injuries which have kept him out of golfing for the PGA Tour. Although he was scheduled to play in the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens in February, he withdrew from the tournament because of back issues. He underwent back surgery in April of this year to attempt to fix his back problems.
Woods told officers that he had taken several prescription drugs for pain including Vioxx and Vicodin.
Tiger Woods’s case reminds us that a person can have a blood alcohol content of 0.00 percent and still get arrested for driving under the influence. A person need not have alcohol in their system or even illegal drugs. Whether prescription, as was Woods’s case, or over the counter drugs, as long as the drug affects a person’s ability to drive as a reasonable and sober person would, they can get a DUI.
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