Tiger Woods announced Monday he is receiving “professional help” to manage his use of prescribed opioid painkillers following his arrest for driving while intoxicated last month.
Florida police found the 41-year-old golf icon asleep behind the wheel of his Mercedes at 3 a.m. with the motor running and his right blinker on.
Woods failed a field sobriety test, but then tested negative for alcohol on a breathalyzer test, suggesting substances other than alcohol were at play.
Woods later released a statement saying the slurred speech and inability to keep his eyes open was due to a bad reaction from one of four medications he is prescribed to treat his back pain and insomnia.
Woods is prescribed a cocktail of Vicodin, Solarex, Torix and Vioxx, according to a police report following Woods’ arrest.
“I’m currently receiving professional help to manage my medications and the ways that I deal with back pain and a sleep disorder,” Woods tweeted Monday.
“I want to thank everyone for the amazing outpouring of support and understanding especially the fans and players on tour,” he added.
By TW pic.twitter.com/AuX6PEgNQ1
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) June 19, 2017
According to TMZ, Tiger “flunked the field sobriety test badly … he couldn’t do the one-leg stand or the nose touch. The report says, “When asked if he understood the Romberg alphabet test, he stated, ‘yes, recite the entire national anthem backwards.’”
Though Woods is largely considered one of the greatest golfers in the game, both his private and professional lives have been littered with controversy of late.
During his divorce from Elin Nordegren, it came out that Woods was a serial cheater and a sex addict.
On the course, Woods hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2013, which was the Bridgestone Invitational. His game has been interrupted by serious health issues and injuries and his ranking has fallen from No. 1 – a post he held for 683 weeks — to his current rank of No. 876.
