On Tuesday night, August 25, 2026, a pre-recorded video message from Tiger Woods aired during the Golf Channel broadcast of the PGA Tour’s Payne Stewart Award ceremony; multiple outlets described it as his first public appearance since his March 27, 2026 DUI arrest. The award went to Notah Begay III, Woods’ friend since their junior-golf days and now a golf broadcaster, and Woods used the video to congratulate him. Multiple outlets described it as Woods’ first public statement since the crash and arrest, and it aired about two weeks before his scheduled in-person court appearance on September 8, 2026.
Key facts
- Who: Tiger Woods, 50
- What: A video congratulating Notah Begay III, described by multiple outlets as Woods’ first public appearance since his March DUI arrest
- When: Aired Tuesday, August 25, 2026, on Golf Channel
- Charges: DUI with property damage, and refusal to submit to a lawful sobriety test
- Next step: In-person court appearance on September 8, 2026, 8:30 a.m., in Stuart, Florida
Timeline
- May 2017 — Police found Woods asleep at the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz with the engine running, an earlier incident that also led to a DUI charge.
- March 24, 2026 — Woods returned to competitive golf for the first time since July 2024, playing for Jupiter Links GC.
- March 27, 2026 — Woods’ Land Rover clips a pickup truck’s trailer and rolls near his Jupiter Island home; he is arrested.
- Late March 2026 — Woods waives arraignment and pleads not guilty; his attorney requests a jury trial.
- March 31, 2026 — Woods says in a statement he is stepping away to seek treatment.
- Mid-May 2026 — Woods is briefly seen back in Florida before returning to Switzerland; Vanessa Trump discloses her breast cancer diagnosis.
- Mid-June 2026 — Woods is seen back in Jupiter, Florida.
- July 2026 — Ernie Els says he and Woods have discussed the PGA Tour Champions senior circuit.
- August 25, 2026 — Woods’ video airs during the Payne Stewart Award ceremony.
- September 8, 2026 — Woods is due in Martin County court in person for the first time since the crash.
A tribute to an old friend
In the video, Woods praised Begay’s charitable foundation, saying it has helped more than 80,000 young people and their families in Native American communities. Begay, a former PGA Tour player, received the Payne Stewart Award — which recognizes character, sportsmanship and philanthropy — at the ceremony that night. Woods did not address his arrest, the crash or his time out of public view in the clip.
The DUI case is still ahead of him
Woods, 50, faces two misdemeanor charges from a rollover crash on South Beach Road near his Jupiter Island, Florida, home on March 27, 2026: driving under the influence with property damage, and refusal to submit to a lawful sobriety test. According to the arrest report, his Land Rover clipped a pickup truck’s pressure-washer trailer while he was passing it, then rolled onto its side; no one was hurt. Deputies described signs of impairment — bloodshot and glassy eyes, dilated pupils, sweating — and said his breath tests came back at 0.000 for alcohol. He refused a urine test. Two hydrocodone pills were found in his pocket during the arrest; whether they were legally prescribed to him has not been made public, and the report does not say whether the pills were connected to the impairment signs deputies described.
Woods waived his arraignment and pleaded not guilty to both counts in late March, and his attorney, Douglas Duncan, requested a jury trial. The case has been postponed several times, in part because prosecutors sought Woods’ hospital and pharmacy records. He is now scheduled to appear in person before a Martin County judge for the first time since the crash on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, at 8:30 a.m., at the courthouse in Stuart, Florida.
This is not Woods’ first DUI case. Police found him asleep at the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz with the engine running in May 2017, an earlier incident that also led to a DUI charge.
Treatment in Switzerland, then months out of view
Four days after the crash, on March 31, Woods said in a statement: “I know and understand the seriousness of the situation I find myself in today. I am stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment and focus on my health.” A Martin County judge approved his request to receive inpatient treatment outside the country, and Woods traveled to a rehabilitation clinic in Zurich, Switzerland, for a program reported to last roughly 90 days. He was seen returning briefly to Florida in mid-May before flying back to Switzerland, and was seen back in Jupiter again by mid-June. Exactly when his treatment ended has not been confirmed.
Woods has not said he is retiring from golf. His March statement described the move as temporary, and the PGA Tour’s own report of it frames it the same way.
During the months he was largely out of view, his girlfriend, Vanessa Trump — the ex-wife of Donald Trump Jr. — disclosed in May that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She has called Woods her “strength” during her treatment, and outlets including Fox News, Sports Illustrated and Yahoo Entertainment have reported that he has been focused on supporting her.
Why fans reacted to how he looked
Because multiple outlets described Tuesday’s video as Woods’ first public appearance since the arrest, viewers reacted online, and the response was mixed. As Fox News, Breitbart and The Mirror reported, some commenters called him “a shell of his former self” and “unrecognizable,” describing him as noticeably thinner, more aged, or with a puffier face; others, per those same reports, said he appeared sober and healthier than before the crash. No outlet has reported a medical explanation from Woods or his representatives for the change.
What comes next on the course
Before the arrest, Woods had returned to competitive golf for the first time since July 2024, playing for Jupiter Links GC on March 24 — three days before the crash. He has not played since. He did not enter the 2026 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, and Yahoo Sports has reported he will not play the 2026 U.S. Open either, extending his run of missed majors — a decision about this year’s tournaments, not a statement from Woods himself about retiring. Turning 50 in December 2025 made him age-eligible for the PGA Tour Champions senior circuit, and fellow golfer Ernie Els said in July that the two have discussed the idea privately, though nothing has been confirmed. For now, the confirmed next step in the case is the September 8 court hearing.