{"id":568726,"date":"2026-04-06T23:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T23:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/568726\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T23:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T23:12:11","slug":"tiger-woods-a-topic-at-the-masters-as-jason-day-questions-the-dui-arrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/568726\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiger Woods a topic at the Masters as Jason Day questions the DUI arrest"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) \u2014 Tiger Woods was a big part of the conversation Monday at the Masters without even being at Augusta National. His absence stemming from his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence<\/a> brought a degree of criticism from Jason Day.<\/p>\n

Florida authorities determined Woods was impaired March 27 when his Land Rover struck a trailer and flipped on its side on a residential street. They found two painkiller pills in his pocket. Woods was arrested and briefly jailed for refusing to submit to a urine test.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just a human being like everyone else and we have struggles,\u201d Day said. \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate. The only thing that I don\u2019t understand is that it\u2019s a little bit selfish of him to drive and put other people in harm\u2019s way, as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when you\u2019re the player that he was and how strong-willed he is, he thinks he can do almost anything,\u201d Day said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s probably why he\u2019s driving and a little bit under the influence.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Jason<\/p>\n

Jason Day tees off on the first hole during the final round of the Texas Children\u2019s Houston Open golf tournament Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Michael Wyke)<\/p>\n

Jason Day tees off on the first hole during the final round of the Texas Children\u2019s Houston Open golf tournament Sunday, March 29, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Michael Wyke)<\/p>\n

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This is the second straight year Woods has missed the Masters, under entirely different circumstances. He had ruptured his Achilles tendon in March of 2025 and didn\u2019t even make it to the Masters Club dinner for champions.<\/p>\n

Woods entered a plea of not guilty last week, and then sought \u2014 and was granted \u2014 a motion to seek treatment outside the country<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was my hero \u2014 he\u2019s my hero,\u201d said Day, the Australian who reached No. 1 in the world a decade ago. \u201cThe reason why I play golf is because of this tournament and Tiger. It\u2019s hard to see him go through what he\u2019s going through, and especially under the microscope. It must be hard to be who he is and have everything, everyone look on, kind of down on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people want him to fail. Some people obviously want him to succeed,\u201d Day said. \u201cIt\u2019s really difficult for me to go through that and watch him, and I know that he\u2019s getting the help now, which is good. I\u2019m just hoping he comes out on the other side and is better.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Tiger<\/p>\n

Tiger Woods reacts as he wins the Masters golf tournament April 14, 2019, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip, File)<\/p>\n

Tiger Woods reacts as he wins the Masters golf tournament April 14, 2019, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo\/David J. Phillip, File)<\/p>\n

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Woods is a five-time champion at the Masters, the last one in 2019 to complete a most remarkable comeback in golf. In the 14 years between winning green jackets, he had reconstructive knee surgery (2008) and four back surgeries (2014-17), and one arrest for taking what he said was a bad mix of painkillers when he was found asleep behind the wheel<\/a> of his running car (2017).<\/p>\n

Since winning his last Masters, his right leg and ankle were crushed in 2021 when his SUV going about 85 mph ran over a median and tumbled down a hill on a coastal road in Los Angeles<\/a>. He also had surgery on the Achilles tendon and a seventh back surgery last year.<\/p>\n

Nick Faldo was particularly critical of Woods in an interview with Britain\u2019s Daily Telegraph last week when he said, \u201cThere are two sides to this right now. There\u2019s one side that\u2019s like … let\u2019s care for Tiger. And then there has got to be a responsibility and an accountability side as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cForget about golf. We are not meant to be on the streets with two pills in our pocket,\u201d Faldo said. \u201cThe bottom line is that I really think that this is a serious issue and something should be done that is a little bit more serious than waving him off to a tropical island and saying, \u2018Welcome back,\u2019 in three or four months or whatever it might be.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Phil<\/p>\n

Phil Mickelson, left, and Tiger Woods stand at the first tee before a golf match at Shadow Creek golf course, Nov. 23, 2018, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo\/John Locher, File)<\/p>\n

Phil Mickelson, left, and Tiger Woods stand at the first tee before a golf match at Shadow Creek golf course, Nov. 23, 2018, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo\/John Locher, File)<\/p>\n

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Phil Mickelson, a three-time Masters champion who was a runner-up in 2023 at age 52, also is skipping the Masters as he deals with a family health matter at home. It\u2019s the first time since 1994 neither Woods nor Mickelson was at Augusta National for the first major of the year.<\/p>\n

Mickelson is with LIV Golf and plays on a big stage only four times a year at the majors. Jacob Bridgeman, one of the 22 newcomers to the Masters, didn\u2019t know Mickelson wasn\u2019t playing and is young enough in golf to have only played two majors with him last year.<\/p>\n

\"Masters<\/p>\n

\n Masters champion Tiger Woods receives his Green Jacket from last year’s winner Nick Faldo, left, at the Augusta National Golf Club, April 13, 1997, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo\/ Dave Martin, File)\n <\/p>\n

Masters champion Tiger Woods receives his Green Jacket from last year’s winner Nick Faldo, left, at the Augusta National Golf Club, April 13, 1997, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo\/ Dave Martin, File)<\/p>\n

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\"Masters<\/p>\n

\n Masters champion Tiger Woods is engulfed by the gallery as he makes his way to the the 18th hole during final round play on April 13, 1997, at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo\/Amy Sancetta, File)\n <\/p>\n

Masters champion Tiger Woods is engulfed by the gallery as he makes his way to the the 18th hole during final round play on April 13, 1997, at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo\/Amy Sancetta, File)<\/p>\n

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Woods is a huge part of the Masters, not only from the records he shattered in 1997 at age 21 but recently with his work on a short course during the refurbishing of a municipal course in town known as \u201cThe Patch.\u201d He also is opening a TGR Learning Lab in Augusta.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s such a legend in this game, somebody I looked up to,\u201d Harris English said. \u201cWatching him win around this place in \u201997 is kind of the reason I started getting into golf. I know he\u2019s going to get through this. He has a big fight ahead of him. He\u2019s a fighter. That\u2019s what he does.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP golf: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/golf<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) \u2014 Tiger Woods was a big part of the conversation Monday at the Masters without…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[1686,28358,2808,9092,793,681,427,17762,3073,223074,17652,65135,16336,99,5313,6897,795],"class_list":{"0":"post-568726","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-accidents","9":"tag-augusta","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-ga-state-wire","12":"tag-general-news","13":"tag-georgia","14":"tag-golf","15":"tag-harris-english","16":"tag-indictments","17":"tag-jacob-bridgeman","18":"tag-jason-day","19":"tag-nick-faldo","20":"tag-phil-mickelson","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-surgery","23":"tag-tiger-woods","24":"tag-u-s-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}