Tiger Woods was not drunk.
He wants the world to know that, emphatically.
The world knows of his arrest in the wee hours of Monday morning, Memorial Day. He was found asleep at the wheel of his 2015 black Mercedes-Benz, parked in the right lane of Military Highway, a high-traffic volume road. Officer Palladino came upon Woods’ vehicle and had to wake him.
It only gets worse from there.
A quick glance at the police report tells the tale. You can read it yourself here.
At the end of the day, Tiger Woods was lucky no one was injured, lucky he wasn’t injured.
This could have been the end. By some miracle, it wasn’t. Woods’ $220,000 Benz had two flat tires on the drivers’ side, damage to the wheel rims and damage to the front and rear bumpers.
It was just last week that Woods had declared himself pain-free for the first time in a long time.
Now we know why. Tiger Woods is taking some serious medication. Says so on the report.
The real eye-opener is that Woods didn’t know where he was. Per the report, he babbled something about coming back from golfing in Los Angeles. Then he changed that story and admitted he didn’t know where he was.
Wow, that’s frightening.
So now we know the facts about the arrest of Tiger Woods. Not an alcohol DUI, it was a drug DUI. He’ll be arraigned on July 5. This won’t go to court, there will be some sort of plea worked out.
No need to pile on Tiger Woods, no need to scold or humiliate him, he’s done a pretty good job of that himself. First came 2009 and you might remember that Abien, another prescription drug, was involved. Woods took one before his then wife Elin Nordegren chased him out of their Isleworth house and he’d crash his SUV into a nearby fire hydrant.
Now comes 2017.
Tiger Woods probably bent the facts about being pain-free. His list of prescriptions throws cold water on that statement.
Some of the listed drugs on the police report battle osteoarthritis. Good chance Woods is suffering from osteoarthritis. The big one of note was pain-killer Vicodin.
When you add it all up, the ongoing saga of Tiger Woods moves further into the “sad news” category.
It is. It is very sad.
It was sad that Woods was out there at 3 a.m. flying solo. Surely he has someone capable of serving as his “wingman.”
Also makes you wonder if Woods is wrestling with his uncertain future.
He made that statement last week that said he wants to play professional golf again.
Tiger Woods may be fighting his body on that one, really fighting it. Tiger may be saying he’s going to play professional golf again but then the voice from deep inside him is screaming: “No you are not.”
The mental effect of this latest fall from grace remains to be seen.
The guy who was once the invincible force on the golf course has become a flawed and fragile human being these days, just like the rest of us.
What confidence?
Tiger needs to forget about the immediate notion that he’s going to play golf again.
He just got a major wake-up call.
Flush the pills down the commode.
Let the old body heal on its own then take it from there.
Wherever “there” leads him.
