Tiger Woods is one of the most recognizable names in sports, but a recent video of the iconic pro golfer circulating across social media has fans growing concerned.
Woods, who has won the prestigious Masters Tournament five times, made an appearance at his TGR Foundation’s charity poker event in Las Vegas on May 31. His face appeared swollen, and he seemed somewhat groggy as he stumbled over a few of his words in a video alongside professional poker player Phil Hellmuth and Twitch streamer Ninja.
When asked about his favorite moment from the TGR Foundation event, Woods said, “I think it’s the stories that the kids come back and tell. The first generation to ever go to college. Parents said you’d never go to college, grandparents say you’d never go to college, it’s useless. All of a sudden, they’re in college flourishing, going to Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and Yale, going to amazing places doing amazing things. One of our girls … she’s one of the directors who landed one of the rovers on Mars.”
The viral video, which was shared on Hellmuth’s social media channels, led some observers to believe that Sin City might have gotten the best of Woods. Some even raised questions about whether Woods had consumed one too many alcoholic beverages before the clip was recorded.
“Tiger is absolutely sauced talking about Mars lmao. This is the duo we need right here,” a social media user suggested.
Another user echoed similar sentiments, saying, “Tiger looks so sauced!!”
“Can we be real for a second here? Is there nobody close enough to him in his camp that can step in and get him some real help? Somebody in his family? Anyone?” a golf commentary account wrote on X. “No one wants to see him like this. It sucks.”
But there were also a considerable number of supporters who jumped to Woods’ defense.
“What’s wrong with him? He seems great,” one person asked.
“He’s just living life,” another person noted, along with a laughing face emoji.
“People are upset he’s partying in Vegas? What?” another user pointed out.
“That was freaking awesome. Man Tiger looked old for the first time to me. But he looks like a cool guy to hang out with,” another said of the 48-year-old golfer.
The video also featured popular gamer “Ninja” engaging in a back-and-forth over golfing woes. Woods eventually concluded that watching “Ninja” play golf was “boring.” But Hellmuth also made it clear that they all were well-versed in the art of talking trash with Woods.
In 2017 the 15-time major winner was arrested on suspicion of DUI charges after he was near his Florida home. Woods was found to have fallen asleep while his car was sitting in a traffic lane with its engine running.
Woods “had extremely slow and slurred speech” at the time of the arrest, but prescription drugs, not alcohol were detected in his system, according to the police report obtained by ESPN. He subsequently pleaded guilty to reckless driving in the case.
Woods has battled multiple physical issues throughout his storied golf career, with the 2021 single-vehicle crash becoming the source of his most recent string of setbacks. He dealt with back pain for several years prior to 2021 and underwent rehab in Arizona in 2010, according to the New York Post.
He has undergone several surgeries in the years since the car crash and has only played in a limited number of golf tournaments.
