Woods, 50, has pleaded not guilty, but has received permission from the judge to go abroad to check into a private rehab clinic, which deals with addiction to painkilling medication, away from the gaze of the media.
Since the crash, which is Woods’s fourth in the past 17 years, the golf world has rallied around the 15-time major winner, with the Masters and the PGA Tour offering not a hint of admonishment. The big-named players have duly followed suit.
Yet Day, the former US PGA champion and world No 1, who was a regular practice partner of Woods, has been brave enough to go against the trend.
“I look at it and go, he’s just a human being like everyone else and he has to accept that,” the Australian, who is preparing for the Masters here, said. “We all have struggles. It’s unfortunate what Tiger is going through. But the only thing that I don’t understand is that it’s a little bit selfish of him to drive and put other people in harm’s way, as well.
“When you’re the player that he was. and how strong-willed he is, he thinks he can do almost anything. And that’s probably why he’s driving a little bit under the influence.