Tiger Woods car crash: Golfer charged with driving under the influence

Sheriff Budencik told reporters at a press conference that the crash occurred after Woods allegedly attempted to overtake a pressure cleaner truck at a “high rate of speed”.

Mr Woods demonstrated signs of impairment.”

DUI investigators arrived at the scene and “Mr Woods demonstrated signs of impairment,” the sheriff said.

“They did many tests on him,” Budencik told reporters. “He explained his injuries and surgeries and we took that into consideration, but he did some intensive roadside testing.”

He was arrested after the incident on Beach Road in Jupiter Island just before 14:00 local time (about 19:00 GMT) on Friday.

The sheriff reported that investigators at the scene and at the jail “did not really suspect alcohol was involved” and that Woods ultimately passed a breathalyser test with a “triple zero”. But, he added, Woods refused a urine test.

Budenciak also said that Woods was “cooperative, but he was trying not to incriminate himself.”

“He is entitled to refuse that test,” the sheriff said. “There is a statute under which he will be charged with refusing to take a test, but we will never get definitive results as to what harm he suffered at the time of the accident.”

When US President Donald Trump was asked about the accident on Friday, he said, ‘I feel very bad. [Woods has] There was some difficulty. There was an accident. That’s all I know.

“He’s a very close friend of mine; he’s a wonderful person, a wonderful person.”

Sheriff Budencik said Woods would remain in jail for eight hours and then be released on bond. The charges are misdemeanours, not felonies.

The BBC has contacted the golfer’s representatives for comment.