Once again, Tiger Woods finds himself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, and this time the incident involves a rather nasty encounter with a trailer on a narrow road in Jupiter, Florida. The recently released body cam footage adds another colorful chapter to the ongoing saga of Tiger’s off-the-course escapades. For those keeping score at home, this episode involves a rollover crash and a DUI arrest, which, quite frankly, is starting to sound like a standard weekend for the embattled golfer.
The body cam footage shows Tiger on one knee, clearly looking dazed and confused. This is perhaps understandable given that his Range Rover had recently performed an unintended gymnastics routine, landing on its side. Word to the wise: cars make terrible athletes. In the background, the local wildlife probably watched with bemusement as Tiger explained his lack of attention as the cause of the crash. One can only assume that his radio or phone was singing a tune far too difficult to resist.
As the footage continues, the officer on the scene politely checks on Tiger’s well-being, although Tiger’s complaints about not feeling anything should probably be taken with a grain of salt. People who feel nothing after such a dramatic crash tend to have a little help from certain chemical friends. In this case, however, the breathalyzer said zero. It appears the infamous cocktail of hydrocodone found in his pocket played its part in this latest misadventure.
Adding another layer to this already complicated story, the driver of the other vehicle involved, a sizable truck and trailer, admitted to feeling shock but not injury. Perhaps he felt more shock at realizing he’d been struck by Tiger Woods than from the actual collision. Not many folks can boast of such a distinction in their road trip stories. It is almost as close as you’d want to get to stardom without the paparazzi hounding your doorstep.
Despite the laugh track this would earn on a late-night show, the aftermath is anything but amusing, with an arraignment on the calendar and whispers of a jury trial following Tiger’s defiant not-guilty plea. Quite the bold move for someone whose sobriety test performance could be best described as dismal, or in Tiger’s world, perhaps just par for the course. A stint in rehab is also on the horizon, though not without the utmost privacy—meaning he’s off to heal in a foreign land where curious eyes are a little less prying.
In the grand scheme of things, one almost has to admire Tiger’s relentless pursuit of drama. It’s practically a sport in itself at this point. As he takes another swing at rehabilitation, perhaps this time the ball will land in a better place. Until then, we’ll just have to wait and see if his next drive will be on the green or involve another narrow escape from the consequences of distraction.
