Tiger Woods pleads not guilty to DUI, announces indefinite leave from golf to seek treatment and prioritize his health
Tiger Woods pleaded not guilty to DUI through his attorney following his March 27 arrest in Florida after a rollover crash near his home on Jupiter Island. Deputies found prescription opioid pills in his pocket at the scene and noted signs of impairment despite a breathalyzer that returned 0.00.
Tiger Woods has since announced he is taking an indefinite leave from golf to seek treatment and prioritize his health. Augusta National confirmed his withdrawal from the Masters and offered its support. He asked for privacy for his family.
Tiger Woods is stepping away from golf to focus on health
The Masters following Tiger Woods announcement
PGA TOUR releases statement on Tiger Woods
To be clear, I don’t know if this is actually the case for Tiger Woods but given his history, it’s the type of speculation that makes the most sense.
For someone like me who grew up watching Tiger Woods while also having personal experience with addiction, the reaction online has been predictable and frustrating in equal measure.
The loudest critics are almost certainly people who have never lost someone to addiction or battled it themselves because if they had, the situation would look a lot different to them.
What is happening with Tiger Woods is not complicated if you know anything about opioids and surgical recovery. The man has had more procedures on his body than most people can keep track of.
Hydrocodone and other opiates are standard protocol for that kind of pain management. They are also among the most addictive substances on earth.
What starts as legitimate medical treatment can become dependency before a person even realizes it is happening and that process does not discriminate based on who you are or how much willpower you have. Tiger Woods is not immune to it. Nobody is.
For me personally, I’m roughly 10 years clean of opiates. I lost countless numbers of friends and family numbers along the way.
Quick shoutout to my friends. Miss you all every day.
Anyways, it’s blatantly obvious that Tiger Woods should not have been driving. He put other people at risk and that is a fact that does not change regardless of how sympathetic the underlying circumstances are.
Both of those things are true at the same time.
What I am glad about is that he is addressing it. You cannot half-ass this process. It is long and difficult and genuinely hard even when you are doing everything right.
The people who treat it like a punchline have not been close enough to it to understand what it actually takes.
The golf world is better with Tiger Woods in it.
The Masters is better with Tiger Woods in it. I hope he gets healthy, takes care of himself, and comes back when he is ready. The game will be here waiting.
Good luck brother. It is a long battle but it is worth fighting.
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If he is not guilty then what is there for which to seek recovery?