Tiger Woods ‘arrogant’ during arrest for drink-driving charge

Woods, who lives on Jupiter Island, was arrested around 3am after police saw him driving a 2015 Mercedes “erratically, all over the road,” law enforcement sources told TMZ.

Smelling alcohol on Woods’ breath, an officer asked the golfer, who was acting “arrogant,” to take a Breathalyzer test, but he refused, the site reported.

In Florida, refusing to take a breath test leads to an automatic arrest and the suspension of a driver’s license.

Woods’ reps called police repeatedly to ask if the arresting cop had a bodycam, TMZ reported.

Woods was sprung from the Palm Beach County Jail on his own recognisance shortly before 11am. His car was picked up by someone in his camp, TMZ reported.

A mugshot released by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office shows a haggard-looking, unshaven Woods staring vacantly at the camera with ruffled hair.

Woods, 41, was pulled over as he drove south on Military Trail, Jupiter police spokeswoman Kristin Rightler told the Palm Beach Post.

Police did not say if there was anyone else in Woods’ car, which was travelling in the opposite direction of his home, the paper reported.

Rightler said she did not know what testing Woods underwent at the scene or in the lockup.

Cori Rist, one of Woods’ many mistresses during his wild sexcapades in the late 2000s, told The New York Post she feels sorry for the golfing legend.

“I saw the news, I only feel compassion for the guy. I think he’s a good person, and it’s kind of sad,” Rist said.

The former lingerie model has said she met the golfer at a nightclub in 2006 and slept with him for about six months.

When asked if he ever had a problem with drugs or alcohol while they were seeing each other, she replied: “No, never.

“I think he’s a good person, and clearly he’s a good father, and he’s going through a difficult time, and I think people should offer support instead of applauding his downfall.

“I just wish him the best, and I hope to see a good outcome from all of this, and I think he’ll be OK.”

Ex-NFL star turned TV pundit Shannon Sharpe told FOX Sports (US) he was sad to see Woods’ extreme fall from grace.

“(I’m) sad, disappointed. I don’t know if we’ve ever had a greater athlete fall so, so far from glory,” Sharpe said. “He should never put himself in that situation.

“When you drink and drive, you get behind the wheel, you put other people’s lives at risk. Why would you do that, Tiger? And looking at the mug shot, it’s just so disappointing.

“I didn’t think he could get any lower than what he had already gone, the depths he had fallen to. I didn’t think it was possible for him to go lower.

“For him to put himself in that situation is sad, it’s disappointing … where does he go now?”

The 14-time major champion, who won 79 PGA Tour titles, has been beset by back problems for the past few years.

On April 19, he underwent fusion surgery — his fourth since April 2014 — after pulling out of the Masters, missing the first major of the year on the 20th anniversary of his 1997 victory at Augusta National.

He has not played since he pulled out of the Dubai Desert Classic on Feb. 3 after an opening-round 77. He has only made three worldwide starts in the past two years.

Once widely expected to surpass Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships, Woods hasn’t won a grand slam title since the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines.

On Wednesday, Woods described his fusion surgery and expressed his desire to return to the links.

“It has been just over a month since I underwent fusion surgery on my back, and it is hard to express how much better I feel. It was instant nerve relief. I haven’t felt this good in years,” he wrote after his charity Tiger Jam in Las Vegas May 19-20.

Celebrities Kate Upton, Chris Paul, Kid Rock and Darius Rucker took part in the event.

“I could no longer live with the pain I had. We tried every possible non-surgical route and nothing worked. I had good days and bad days, but the pain was usually there, and I couldn’t do much. Even lying down hurt. I had nerve pain with anything I did and was at the end of my rope,” he wrote.

“The process leading up to my decision to have surgery was exhaustive. I consulted with a specialist, and after weighing my options, that’s when I decided to go to Texas to have surgery.”

Woods described his long-term prognosis as “positive.”

“My surgeon and physiotherapist say the operation was successful. It’s just a matter of not screwing up and letting it fuse,” Woods wrote.

“I’m walking and doing my exercises, and taking my kids to and from school. All I can do is take it day by day. There’s no hurry.

“But, I want to say unequivocally, I want to play professional golf again. Presently, I’m not looking ahead. I can’t twist for another two-and-a-half to three months. Right now, my sole focus is rehab and doing what the doctors tell me. I am concentrating on short-term goals.”

Late last year, Woods posted a bizarre bare-chested image of himself as a cross between Santa Claus and a dirty old man.

His clean-cut image came apart on thanksgiving night 2009 when then-wife Elin Nordegren chased him out of their $2.4 million Florida mansion with a golf club after learning of his serial cheating.

Woods crashed his car, opening the floodgates of stories about his wild sexcapades.

The embattled golfer described his marital demise to Time magazine in 2015.

“In hindsight, it’s not how I would change 2009 and how it all came about. It would be having a more open, honest relationship with my ex-wife,” Woods told the mad.

“Our frustrations would have come out if we had talked about it and been open and honest with each other,” he said.

Weeks after the infamous incident, several of Woods’ past hook-ups came forward to describe their encounters with him, including former nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel and mistress Mindy Lawton.

He eventually entered rehab for sex addiction. Woods and Nordegren, who lives in Seminole Landing in Juno Beach, were divorced in 2010.

“It was too tough, too tough,” Woods said of the effort to salvage their marriage amid the scandal. “But now, in hindsight, as years and years have gone by, we’re like the best friends.”

This article originally appeared on The New York Post

Originally published as Ex-lover discusses ‘arrogant’ Tiger’s DUI bust