Tiger Woods Told Deputies He Was Looking at His Phone, Changing the Radio Before Florida Rollover Crash

Tiger Woods told authorities he was looking down at his phone and changing the radio station just before his rollover crash last week in Florida, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained Tuesday. The new details add another layer to the case that already brought a DUI arrest, a damaged vehicle and more unwelcome attention to one of the most recognizable names in sports.

Woods, 50, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence last Friday after his Land Rover clipped a truck and rolled onto its side near his home on Jupiter Island, Florida. According to the affidavit, Woods told Martin County Sheriff investigators that he did not realize the truck in front of him had slowed down.

The affidavit states that a Martin County Sheriff deputy observed Woods with “bloodshot and glassy” eyes and “extremely dilated” pupils after the crash. The document also said Woods agreed to perform field sobriety exercises and was “sweating profusely” while appearing “lethargic and slow.”

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Investigators also found two hydrocodone pills in Woods’ pant pocket, according to the affidavit. Woods told authorities he had not consumed alcohol that day. When asked whether he had taken prescription medication, Woods responded, “I take a few,” according to the affidavit, and added that he had taken the medicine earlier that morning.

Those details now sit at the center of a case that quickly moved from a traffic crash to an arrest involving one of golf’s biggest figures. Woods’ name alone guarantees intense attention, but the document gives a more specific account of what authorities say happened in the moments leading up to the collision. The account suggests investigators were not dealing with a mystery mechanical failure or a sudden roadway surprise, but rather a sequence in which Woods acknowledged being distracted behind the wheel just before impact.

The crash took place near Woods’ home on Jupiter Island, a wealthy coastal area in South Florida that has long been associated with several high-profile golfers and athletes. The location only amplified the interest surrounding the incident, though the core facts laid out in the affidavit focus squarely on Woods’ condition, his actions before the crash and what deputies observed after arriving at the scene.

For Woods, the episode is another off-course problem at a stage in his life and career when most public attention has increasingly shifted away from full-time competition and toward his schedule, physical limitations and sporadic appearances. The 15-time major champion remains one of the sport’s defining names, even as his playing future has become less predictable. Now, instead of a comeback timeline or a tournament return, the focus has turned to a police affidavit, a rollover crash and the details he provided to investigators.

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Those are now the facts driving the story as Woods faces the aftermath of the crash and whatever comes next in the legal process. For a sports world used to tracking him by scorecards, surgeries and comeback attempts, the latest update arrived instead through a sheriff’s affidavit and a roadside investigation in Florida.

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