After last week in Florida, Tiger Woods took out his phone and told a deputy, 鈥淚 was just talking to the president,鈥� according to body camera footage released Thursday showing Woods’ arrest on a DUI charge.
The phone conversation was not captured on video, but Woods could be heard saying, 鈥淭hank you so much,鈥� as he hung up and the deputy approached. It wasn’t clear if Woods was referring to President Donald Trump, whose former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump, is dating Woods.
Shortly after the golfer’s March 27 arrest, Trump was asked about Woods and told reporters: 鈥淚 feel so badly. He鈥檚 got some difficulty. Very close friend of mine. He鈥檚 an amazing person. Amazing man. But, some difficulty.鈥�
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump spoke to Woods after the crash.
The footage also shows how Woods appeared to be astonished as he was handcuffed after failing a sobriety test and a video from the back of the patrol car shows the handcuffed golfer hiccupping, yawning and repeatedly appearing to nod off during the 15-minute ride.
Woods told authorities he was looking at his phone and changing the radio station when his speeding Land Rover clipped the back of a truck on a residential road on Jupiter Island. No one was injured.
鈥淚 looked down at my phone, and all of a sudden 鈥� boom,鈥� Woods told an officer as he knelt on a lawn, prior to his arrest.
Body camera footage shows Martin County Sheriff鈥檚 Deputy Tatiana Levenar then conducting a roadside sobriety test and telling Woods: 鈥淚 do believe your normal faculties are impaired, and you鈥檙e under an unknown substance, so at this time you鈥檙e under arrest for DUI.”
鈥淚鈥檓 being arrested?鈥� Woods responded.
鈥淵es, sir,鈥� Levenar said.
After handcuffing Woods, authorities searched his pockets and found two white pills.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a Norco,鈥� Woods said after an officer pulled out the pills, referring to a painkiller that contains acetaminophen and the opioid hydrocodone. Authorities would later confirm that Woods was in possession of hydrocodone.
In the body camera footage, Woods told Levenar that he had not drunk any alcohol and that he had taken 鈥渁 few鈥� medications earlier in the day, though Woods鈥� words are muted in the released video as he describes some of the drugs.
At the sheriff鈥檚 office complex, after Woods was escorted into the 鈥淒UI room鈥� where drivers are tested for being under the influence, Woods said, 鈥淚鈥檓 not drunk. I鈥檓 on a prescription medication,鈥� according to a supplemental sheriff鈥檚 office report released Thursday.
Woods, 50, to suspicion of driving under the influence. He posted a statement Tuesday night saying that he was stepping away indefinitely 鈥渢o seek treatment and focus on my health.鈥�
Woods agreed to a Breathalyzer test that showed no signs of alcohol, but he refused a urine test, authorities said. Under a change to Florida law last year, refusing an officer鈥檚 request to take a breath, blood or urine test became a misdemeanor, even for a first offense.
During the field sobriety test, deputies noticed Woods limping and that he had a compression sock over his right knee. Woods explained he had undergone seven back surgeries and over 20 surgeries on his right leg, and that his ankle seizes up while walking.
Woods, who was hiccupping during questioning, continuously moved his head during one of the sobriety tests and deputies had to tell him several times to keep his head straight, according to an arrest report.
鈥淏ased on my observations of Woods, how he performed the exercises and based on my training, knowledge, and experience, I believed that Woods normal faculties were impaired, and he was unable to safely operate the motor vehicle,鈥� Levenar wrote.
Woods is the most influential figure in golf and has become as recognizable as any athlete in the world. The first person of Black heritage to win the Masters in 1997, he has captivated golf fans with records likely never to be broken.
His injuries have kept him from accomplishing more, including from a that damaged his right leg so badly he said doctors considered amputation. He has not played an official event since the 2024 British Open. He was recovering from a seventh back surgery in October and was trying to return at the Masters, where he is a five-time champion.
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Associated Press writer Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida, contributed to this report.
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