Golf

The Masters is one of the most prestigious events in sport. But the story behind The Masters Tournament is also tied to the history of segregation in golf. From the PGA’s “Caucasian-only clause” to the Black caddies who knew Augusta better than anyone. And why Tiger Woods’s victory in 1997 changed the image of the game forever. Al Jazeera’s Samantha Johnson looks at the tournament’s complicated past.

Woods pleaded not guilty in his driving under the influence case in Florida last week after rolling his SUV.

Prosecutors are seeking Tiger Woods ‘ prescription drug records from a pharmacy, a week after his vehicle crashed in Florida and he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Prosecutors in Florida on Tuesday said they planned to issue a subpoena seeking copies of all prescription medication records for the legendary golfer on file at Lewis Pharmacy in Palm Beach, Florida, from the start of the year through the end of last month.

Prosecutors in Martin County, Florida, want the times the prescriptions were filled, the number of pills, the dosage amounts and any instructions that accompanied the pills, such as warnings about driving while taking them, according to documents in an online court docket.

Any objections to the subpoena must be filed with the State Attorney’s Office within 10 days. Neither Lewis Pharmacy nor Woods’ attorney, Doug Duncan, immediately responded to emails seeking comment.

Woods pleaded not guilty in his driving under the influence case in Florida last week, hours after a sheriff’s report said deputies found two pain pills in his pocket and he showed signs of impairment after his SUV clipped a trailer and rolled over on its side.

Woods was travelling at high speeds on a beachside, residential road on Jupiter Island with a 30-mile per hour (nearly 50km per hour) speed limit when the accident occurred, authorities said. The truck had $5,000 in damage, according to an incident report. Woods agreed to a Breathalyzer test that showed no signs of alcohol, but he refused a urine test, authorities said.

Woods said last week that he is stepping away to seek treatment.

It’s the second time Woods has taken a leave following a car crash. In 2009, after his SUV ploughed into a fire hydrant and tree outside his home near Orlando, he took a leave of absence to work on being a better person. That lasted four months, and he returned at the Masters.

He was also in a 2021 car crash in Los Angeles that damaged his right leg so badly he said doctors considered amputation.

Reaction to Tiger Woods’ car crash and driving under the influence arrest last month ranged from sadness to dismay to exasperation. Few observers, however, expressed surprise.

Although widely recognized as perhaps the greatest golfer of all time, Woods, 50, has been in a downward spiral personally and professionally for years.

His struggles with prescription drugs became public in 2017 when police found him asleep at the wheel of his car with the engine running near his Jupiter, Fla., home. Multiple painkillers, sleep aids and THC were detected in his system. Woods checked into rehab shortly after that incident, saying his efforts to manage insomnia and pain from his staggering number of surgeries on his own was a mistake.

Now, though, he’s again in rehab, likely in Switzerland after his private jet landed in Zurich on Friday, according to reports. The latest crash is the fourth major incident involving Woods behind the wheel since 2009.

“I feel bad for Tiger,” fellow golf great Jack Nicklaus told the Palm Beach Post. “He’s been taking painkillers for a long time and I don’t know how much pain he’s in. But I don’t think he’d be taking them if he didn’t need them.”

Woods’ current pivot to recovery follows a barrage of headlines about his rollover crash and unfocused, hiccups-laden aftermath captured on police officers’ body cameras that included a phone call to President Trump, failed field sobriety tests, handcuffs and a drive to jail in the back seat of a squad car.

A vehicle rests on its side after a rollover accident involving golfer Tiger Woods along a road in Rancho Palos Verdes on Feb. 23, 2021. Woods suffered leg injuries that required surgery.

(Ringo H.W. Chiu / Associated Press)

The episode also provides an opportunity to reflect on Woods’ meteoric rise, sustained excellence and precipitous decline on the golf course, his scandal-plagued personal life and what the future might hold.

What does this latest episode say about Tiger Woods and where does he goes from here?

Prodigy to supremacy

Born Eldrick Tont Woods on Dec. 30, 1975, Tiger was given his nickname by his father, Earl, a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and Green Beret who served in Vietnam. Earl’s combat partner was nicknamed Tiger and it was passed along.

Earl was deployed in the 1960s to the same base in Thailand where Kultida Punsawad worked as a secretary. They married and settled in the Orange County town of Cypress after the war. Tiger was their only child.

“When Tiger was 10 months old, I unstrapped him out of his high chair and he walked over and hit the ball,” Earl recalled on an HBO documentary about his son. “I said, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got something special.’ ”

Amateur Tiger Woods, right, talks with his father, Earl Woods, after practice for the Masters golf tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club in the 1990s.

(Amy Sancetta / Associated Press)

That soon became apparent to everyone. At age 5, Woods showed his golfing prowess on the television show “That’s Incredible.” At 6, he played a televised two-hole exhibition at Calabasas Country Club with legendary golfer Sam Snead, whose record of 82 PGA Tour victories would be equaled by Woods nearly 40 years later.

Life wasn’t all manicured greens. The only black child in his kindergarten class, he was tied to a tree by sixth graders, The Times’ Bill Plaschke reported. Woods played in his first national junior tournament at 13 in Texarkana, Ark., and a local reporter accused him of participating only because he wanted to integrate the local country club.

His excellence eventually stifled racism and quieted critics. As a high school sophomore in 1992, Woods became the youngest golfer to play in a PGA Tour event, shooting a one-over-par 72 at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.

He first hurt his back during that historic round, pulling a muscle while hitting out of deep rough. Afterward he remained on site for treatment, foreshadowing what would be a career-threatening battle with back injuries that includes seven surgeries since 2014 — several microdiscectomies, a 2017 lumbar fusion and most recently a lumbar disc replacement performed in October 2025.

“Tiger Woods’ experience with spinal disease highlights a real and under-recognized issue among modern-era golfers,” said Dr. Corey Walker of the Barrow Neurological Institute. “Tiger’s use of the mechanics of the modern-day swing places a tremendous strain on the back.”

The high-torque swing emphasizes maximum rotation of Woods’ shoulders relative to his hips. It’s tough on his spine but also results in long drives and low scores.

Bothersome backs are common among golfers. Scotland-based osteopath Gavin Routledge, who has teamed with renowned golf coach Gary Nicol in developing a treatment program for spinal injuries, views Woods’ medical history as particularly telling.

“I honestly can’t see a way out for him,” Routledge told Golfweek. “We have known for decades that once you have one disc surgery, the chances of having another are substantially higher, especially if you use the fusion technique like Tiger. It’s a domino effect.”

Woods had no such worries in the mid-1990s. Amid winning three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles, he attended Stanford but left in 1996 after two years and turned pro at 20, smiling and saying “Hello, world” at his introductory news conference.

By 2000, he became the youngest golfer to complete the career Grand Slam of winning the Tour’s four majors and only the fifth ever to do so, following Ben Hogan, Gene Sarazen, Gary Player, and Nicklaus.

His dominance accelerated quickly, and nearly every year from 1997 to 2013 he won at least four and as many as nine tournament championships. He had his first back surgery in 2014 and the victories ceased until he shocked the sports world in 2019 by winning the Masters — the tournament considered the pinnacle of golf — for the fifth time, but the first in 14 years.

Tiger Woods and caddie Steve Williams watch Woods’ chip shot teeter at the edge of the cup before dropping in the 16th hole during the final round of the 2005 Masters tournament.

(Al Tielemans / Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

“It’s overwhelming, just because of what has transpired,” Woods said. “It’s unreal to experience this.”

A few months later he won the inaugural PGA Tour event in Japan to tie Snead’s record of 82 career titles, hoisting the trophy 23 years to the day of his first Tour title at the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational. It was his last victory.

Comeback attempts have been infrequent and unsuccessful, measured against the standards he set for decades. All the while, his injuries mounted and personal life deteriorated.

Losing his grip

Even with his career at its pinnacle and before his back became chronically balky, Woods found his way onto tabloid headlines. It all started with his first public car accident.

Woods crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant outside his home in Isleworth, Fla., at 2:30 a.m. Nov. 27, 2009. He was treated at a hospital with minor injuries and the incident turned out to be the culmination of a whirlwind of missteps that revealed Woods having affairs with several women outside of his marriage to Swedish model Elin Nordegren, the mother of his two children.

Additional reporting identified Woods as a regular at the Mansion, a club for high rollers at the MGM Grand casino in Las Vegas, where he had a $1 million betting limit and played blackjack at $25,000 a hand with NBA superstars Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley.

Woods admitted in 2010 that he had a sex addiction and spent 45 days at an inpatient program in Hattiesburg, Miss. He and Nordegren divorced.

The turmoil took a toll on Woods’ golf game for two years, but he rebounded, winning three tournaments in 2012 and five in 2013. It wasn’t until his first back surgery in 2014 that his career plummeted for good.

Research indicates that retirees who define themselves primarily through their careers are vulnerable to prolonged distress. Few have had a professional life so clearly defined and wildly successful as Woods.

Tiger Woods hits from the fairway at the Riviera Country Club during the second round of the Genesis Invitational on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024 in Pacific Palisades.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

While not officially retired — he planned to play in this week’s Masters until his rollover crash and arrest — his last PGA Tour event was the Open Championship in Scotland in July 2024.

His most formidable obstacles to another comeback might be physical. Woods walks with a limp after suffering extensive damage to his right leg and ankle from a near-fatal single-car crash in Rancho Palos Verdes in 2021. And his most serious back surgery took place only six months ago.

Woods’ more immediate concern seems to be kicking his use of addictive opioid painkillers. A judge in Martin County, Fla., granted his request to seek treatment outside the U.S. He also turned down the role of United States Ryder Cup captain in 2027.

“I know and understand the seriousness of the situation I find myself in today,” Woods said in a statement. “I am stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment and focus on my health. This is necessary in order for me to prioritize my well-being and work toward lasting recovery.

“I’m committed to taking the time needed to return to a healthier, stronger, and more focused place, both personally and professionally. I appreciate your understanding and support, and ask for privacy for my family, loved ones and myself at this time.”

What now?

Woods will continue to make a sizable impact on golf even if he never sets another ball on a tee.

He serves as Founder and CEO of TGR, a multibrand enterprise that includes a charitable foundation, a golf course design company, an events production company and an upscale restaurant, among other holdings.

His $120 million earnings from PGA Tour purses pales in comparison to what he has made in endorsements — an estimated $2 billion, most notably from Nike.

His immense popularity lined the pockets of nearly everyone associated with the PGA Tour. TV ratings skyrocketed, tournament purses spiked and he single-handedly expanded golf’s demographic appeal.

The Masters is taking place this week in Augusta, Ga. Woods, who has donned the famed green jacket given the champion five times, is on the minds of many of the golfers.

Tiger Woods celebrates after sinking his putt on the 18th green to win the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on April 14, 2019.

(Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)

“He was my hero growing up,” said Jason Day, a veteran pro golfer and close friend of Woods. “It must be hard to be who he is and have everyone kind of down on him.”

Later, Day added this: “The only thing I don’t understand is that it’s a bit selfish of him to drive and put other people in harm’s way as well. But when you’re the player he was and how strong-willed he is — he thinks he can do almost anything — and that’s probably why he’s driving and a little bit under the influence.”

Woods has also been on the mind of Nicklaus, at 86 the only living golfer who enjoyed anything close to the success of Woods.

“Sometimes you get too far down the line and just need somebody to help you,” he said. “I think Tiger probably needs some help. We all want to help him. We are all on his side.”

Three-time champion Phil Mickelson will miss this year’s Masters and step away from golf “for an extended period” because of a family health matter.

The American has only missed the tournament on three other occasions since making his debut at Augusta National in 1991.

In a post on X, Mickelson wrote: “Unfortunately, I will not play in the Masters Tournament next week and will be out for an extended period of time as my family continues to navigate a personal health matter.

“I have great respect for Augusta National Golf Club and it is definitely the most special week of the year. I wish everyone the best of luck and will be watching.”

The 55-year-old last missed the first major of the season in 2022 after making controversial comments about the then-proposed LIV Golf project and the PGA Tour.

His absence this year, for the tournament that runs from 9 to 12 April, means it will be the first time since 1994 that both Mickelson and Tiger Woods will not feature in the Masters.

Mickelson sat out of the first four events of the 2026 LIV Golf season, at Riyadh, Adelaide, Hong Kong and Singapore. He also cited a “family health matter” when announcing his initial absence on 1 February.

Although he returned to action last month at Steyn City in South Africa, where he finished tied for 48th place, it was unclear whether he would play at Augusta.

Mickelson, who missed the cut at last year’s Masters, has also won the US PGA Championship twice and triumphed at the Open Championship, at Muirfield, in 2013.

Only Jack Nicklaus (six), Woods (five) and Arnold Palmer (four) have won more Masters titles than Mickelson.

Expense reports filed over a decade of the Calderon family’s engagement in the California Legislature sheds light on the variety of ways political funds can be spent.

The expenses include $1 million spent at golf resorts, $220,000 on steak dinners, $4,000 for cigars, and $325 for a set of false eyelashes. The filings also show $1.3 million charged on credit cards, where expenses are not itemized and the monthly bill sometimes topped $27,000.

The reports, filed with the California secretary of State’s office, cover 23 political accounts active since 2000 for former Assembly Majority Leader Charles Calderon, his brothers Sen. Ron Calderon and former Assemblyman Tom Calderon, and Charles’ son Assemblyman Ian Calderon. All hail from the Los Angeles County town of Montebello and have represented districts in or near there.

The reports detail extended stays in spa resorts and hideaways in such settings as Las Vegas, Hawaii, Tahoe and Palm Springs. The getaways are sometimes listed as fundraisers, but also as conferences, retreats and “holiday” events.

The expenses include more than $135,000 spent on trips to Vegas, $115,000 on events at the Bandon Dunes Resort in Oregon, and $101,000 for trips to Hawaii during which Calderon family members sometimes also accepted “gifts” to attend conferences at those locations at the same time, staged by two California foundations that don’t reveal their funding sources or publish public agendas.

Gifts can be a big part of public office. The more than $27,000 the Calderons spent giving away money from campaign contributions includes gift certificates for contributors and staff members, and also more than $4,000 in gifts from one Calderon to another. Those include a $325 certificate for Calderon sister-in-law and campaign manager Leslie Rodriguez at Longmi Lashes, a Beverly Hills eyelash extension salon that touts its celebrity clientele. The “appreciation” gift came from the Assembly campaign of Charles Calderon, who married Rodriguez’s sister and listed Leslie Rodriguez as a campaign consultant.

California campaign finance laws generally give politicians wide latitude on how they can spend campaign funds. Fair Political Practices Commission records show few enforcement actions against Calderon family members. Charles Calderon, fined in 1995 and again in 1998 for misusing campaign funds for family birthdays and vacations, in 2009 was found to have failed to report all gifts, but the commission accepted his explanation and took no action. The commission in 2009 dismissed a complaint that Ron Calderon used three of his campaign funds for personal expenses with a warning that crossing the line between personal and political benefit in the future “could result in an enforcement action.”

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After FBI raid, Sen. Ron Calderon opens legal defense fund

paige.stjohn@latimes.com

Donald Trump wanted only the pretty ones, his employees said.

After the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes opened for play in 2005, its world-famous owner didn’t stop by more than a few times a year to visit the course hugging the coast of the Pacific.

When Trump did visit, the club’s managers went on alert. They scheduled the young, thin, pretty women on staff to work the clubhouse restaurant — because when Trump saw less-attractive women working at his club, according to court records, he wanted them fired.

“I had witnessed Donald Trump tell managers many times while he was visiting the club that restaurant hostesses were ‘not pretty enough’ and that they should be fired and replaced with more attractive women,” Hayley Strozier, who was director of catering at the club until 2008, said in a sworn declaration.

Initially, Trump gave this command “almost every time” he visited, Strozier said. Managers eventually changed employee schedules “so that the most attractive women were scheduled to work when Mr. Trump was scheduled to be at the club,” she said.

A similar story is told by former Trump employees in court documents filed in 2012 in a broad labor relations lawsuit brought against one of Trump’s development companies in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The employees’ declarations in support of the lawsuit, which have not been reported in detail until now, show the extent to which they believed Trump, now the Republican presidential nominee, pressured subordinates at one of his businesses to create and enforce a culture of beauty, where female employees’ appearances were prized over their skills.

A Trump Organization attorney, in a statement to The Times, called the allegations “meritless.”

In a 2009 court filing, the company said that any “allegedly wrongful or discriminatory acts” by its employees, if any occurred, would be in violation of company policy and were not authorized.

Employees said in their declarations that the apparent preference for attractive women came from the top.

“Donald Trump always wanted good looking women working at the club,” said Sue Kwiatkowski, a restaurant manager at the club until 2009, in a declaration. “I know this because one time he took me aside and said, ‘I want you to get some good looking hostesses here. People like to see good looking people when they come in.’ ”

As a result, Kwiatkowski said, “I and the other managers always tried to have our most attractive hostesses working when Mr. Trump was in town and going to be on the premises.”

Trump has struggled to win the support of female voters as he seeks the nation’s highest office. In the past, he has insulted women’s appearances, sometimes calling them “pigs” or “dogs.”

Trump’s record with women got renewed attention after this week’s presidential debate, when Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton told the story of a former beauty pageant winner who said Trump called her “Miss Piggy” when she gained weight.

Trump has previously defended himself by saying he has “great respect for women” and “will do far more for women” than Clinton. He has also said that “all are impressed with how nicely I have treated women.”

As part of the lawsuit over a lack of meal and rest breaks at Trump’s golf club about 30 miles south of downtown Los Angeles — his largest real estate holding in Southern California — several employees said managers staffed Trump’s clubhouse restaurant with attractive young women rather than more experienced employees in order to please Trump.

The bulk of the lawsuit was settled in 2013, when golf course management, without admitting any wrongdoing, agreed to pay $475,000 to employees who had complained about break policies. An employee’s claim that she was fired after complaining about the company’s treatment of women was settled separately; its terms remain confidential.

A public relations firm working for the Trump campaign referred questions about the lawsuit to one of the attorneys who represented the Trump National Golf Club in the case.

“We do not engage in discrimination of any kind and have always complied with all wage laws, including by providing our employees with meal and rest breaks,” said the attorney, Jill Martin, assistant general counsel for the Trump Organization.

The former employees’ statements primarily describe the club’s work culture from the mid- to late 2000s. The Times spoke at length to one of the ex-employees, who described in detail the allegations about workplace culture. The person declined to be quoted by name, citing a fear of being sued.

In their sworn declarations, some employees described how Trump, during his stays in Southern California, made inappropriate and patronizing statements to the women working for him.

On one visit, Trump saw “a young, attractive hostess working named Nicole … and directed that she be brought to a place where he was meeting with a group of men,” former Trump restaurant manager Charles West said in his declaration.

“After this woman had been presented to him, Mr. Trump said to his guests something like, ‘See, you don’t have to go to Hollywood to find beautiful women,’” West said. “He also turned to Nicole and asked her, ‘Do you like Jewish men?’”

One of the few older people on the wait staff who served Trump, Maral Bolsajian, said she was “uncomfortable” when he visited, calling his behavior toward her “inappropriate.”

“Although I am a grown woman in my forties, Mr. Trump regularly greeted me with expressions like ‘how’s my favorite girl?’” Bolsajian said in a declaration. “Later, after he learned (by asking me) that I was married — and happily so — he regularly asked, ‘are you still happily married?’ whenever he saw me.”

Trump also asked her to pose for photos with him, said Bolsajian, who added that she felt she “had little recourse given that Donald Trump is not only the head of the company but also one of the most powerful, well-known people in the United States.”

Bolsajian said, “In short, I consistently found Mr. Trump to be overly familiar and unprofessional.”

The lawsuit focused on the course’s high-pressure work culture. Employees said they were not allowed to take the breaks required under California law.

The statements about Trump’s preference for young, attractive employees were filed in support of a separate claim for retaliation, lodged after former restaurant host Lucy Messerschmidt, then 45, contended that she had been fired for complaining about age discrimination.

Jeffrey W. Cowan, a Santa Monica attorney who represented the employees in the lawsuit, said the case targeted Trump’s development company, VH Property Corp., but “the evidence certainly suggested” that the club’s work culture flowed from Trump.

Donald Trump takes an unfinished pathway at the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes in 2005.

(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times )

Although Trump was mostly absent from the course he purchased in 2002, workers said his company maintained a rigorous work environment that often left workers exhausted.

Employees said managers urged them to hurry through brief meal breaks, sometimes even expressing impatience with bathroom breaks.

“My manager insisted that because this was Trump’s golf course, it had to be top-notch,” one employee said in a declaration. “He was concerned that if Trump observed employees eating or resting, Trump would not be pleased.”

Another employee said his manager “seemed obsessed with the fact that this was Donald Trump’s golf course,” believing that “Mr. Trump wouldn’t like it if he saw employees sitting around because he would think the golf course was inefficient and overstaffed.” A valet described a stretch where “someone got fired every week.”

One busboy said in a declaration that he took up smoking so that he would have an excuse for going outside for a break.

In response, Trump’s company filed declarations from more than a dozen other employees who said they regularly were offered lunch breaks of at least 30 minutes for every five-hour shift, and were counseled by managers if they didn’t take them.

Lili Amini, general manager, said in a declaration that the company implemented a firm policy about such breaks in 2009.

Employees said managers started instituting breaks after the class-action lawsuit was filed.

The Trump National Golf Club on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 2005.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times )

Female employees said they faced additional pressures.

Strozier, the former catering director, said Vincent Stellio — a former Trump bodyguard who had risen to become a Trump Organization vice president — approached her in 2003 about an employee that Strozier thought was talented.

Stellio wanted the employee fired because she was overweight, Strozier said in her legal filing.

“Mr. Stellio told me to do this because ‘Mr. Trump doesn’t like fat people’ and that he would not like seeing [the employee] when he was on the premises,” wrote Strozier, who said she refused the request. (Stellio died in 2010.)

A year later, Mike van der Goes — a golf pro who had been promoted to be Trump National’s general manager — made a similar request to fire the same overweight employee, Strozier said.

“Mr. van der Goes told me that he wanted me to do this because of [the employee’s] appearance and the fact that Mr. Trump didn’t like people that looked like her,” Strozier wrote.

When Strozier protested, Van der Goes returned a week later “and announced he had a plan of hiding [the employee] whenever Mr. Trump was on the premises,” Strozier wrote.

West, who worked as a restaurant manager at the club until 2008, wrote that Van der Goes ordered him “to hire young, attractive women to be hostesses.” West also said Van der Goes insisted that he “would need to meet all such job applicants first to determine if they were sufficiently pretty.”

Van der Goes, who worked at the club until 2008, did not respond to requests for comment, though he defended Trump in a February interview with the Santa Clarita Gazette.

“He’s not a racist. He’s not a bigot,” said Van der Goes, who called Trump “an astute businessman and a marketing genius.”

Employees said several women quit or were fired because they were perceived as unattractive.

A server, John Marlo, recalled seeing a co-worker crying in 2007. The woman had wanted to be promoted to server.

“She told me that she was upset because a manager had told her that she couldn’t be a server because of she had acne on her face,” Marlo said in a declaration. “According to her, she was qualified for the job and wanted it, but couldn’t get it solely because of her acne.”

The woman quit soon after, Marlo wrote.

Messerschmidt, the employee who said she was fired in retaliation for complaining about age discrimination, said in 2008 that one of her managers, Brian Wolbers, changed her schedule to give her time off during one of Trump’s visits because Trump “likes to see fresh faces” and “young girls.”

Wolbers did not respond to a request for comment.

Gail Doner, who worked as a food server from 2007 to 2011, wrote that she was 60 and had often been frustrated by the inefficiency of the restaurant’s young, inexperienced hostesses, who “usually were not competent but were kept anyway.”

“The hostesses that were the youngest and the prettiest always got the best shifts,” Doner wrote.

Meanwhile, Doner — who had 20 years of experience working for wine vendors, and was at “the top of [her] game” while working for Trump National — said managers slowly cut back her shifts until they stopped scheduling her at all, “effectively firing [her].”

“It did not appear to me that this reduction in shifts was happening to any of the younger, more attractive female food servers,” Doner said. She added: “I chose not to fight to get my job back because by that point I was fed up with the toxic environment and the way that I was treated.”

matt.pearce@latimes.com

Twitter: @mattdpearce

Police are charging professional golfer Tiger Woods with driving under the influence for a second time after he rolled his Land Rover SUV near his Florida home.

Some major Tiger Woods news broke Monday night.

It had nothing to do with the Masters — not directly anyway.

The 50-year-old golfing legend will be playing competitively for the first time in more than a year as his Jupiter Links team competes against Los Angeles in the second match of the best-of-three TGL finals Tuesday night in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

TGL is a high-tech, indoor golf league that uses simulators and real surfaces, founded by Woods, Rory McIlroy and Mike McCarley in 2022. While a TGL match doesn’t present the same physical challenge as a PGA Tour event, the team event could serve as Woods’ first step toward playing at Augusta National on April 9-12.

Woods last played competitively March 4, 2025, in Jupiter’s final TGL match of that season. He missed all of the PGA season last year as he recovered from a 2024 back surgery and surgery in March 2025 for a ruptured Achilles tendon. Last fall, he underwent disk replacement surgery in his lower back.

A five-time Masters winner, most recently in 2019, Woods is listed as a 2026 invitee on the tournament website but has yet to confirm his participation.

Last month at the Genesis Invitational, a reporter asked Woods if the Masters was “off the table” for him this year. Woods answered simply, “No.”

In the opening match of the TGL finals Monday night, Jupiter lost 6-5, with Kevin Kisner narrowly missing a birdie chip from 20 feet that would have won the match. Woods was on hand as a team captain and supporter, roles he has served all season.

After the match, Woods told reporters he felt bad for his players — Tom Kim, Max Homa and Kisner — but expressed optimism that Jupiter could still come back and claim the title. If Jupiter wins Match 2, a third match will take place immediately afterward to determine the TGL champion.

“We have possibly two more matches,” Woods said. “We’re not out of this.”

Woods didn’t mention the possibility of placing himself in the next day’s lineup. After the news conference, however, TGL posted a graphic on X that showed what appears to be Woods’ torso and the words “He’s back,” along with the viewing information for Tuesday’s match.

Moments later, Jupiter Links posted a graphic on X that featured a photo of Woods and the quote, “I’m back.”

Woods will be replacing Kisner in the lineup for at least Match 2. It is unclear if Woods would take part in a possible third match.

Last week, after Jupiter clinched a spot in the finals, Woods told reporters he has been trying to play all season “but it just hasn’t worked out that way.” He added that the players had done well without him and implied that he didn’t foresee any changes ahead of the finals.

“I really don’t want to screw up the lineup,” Woods added. “I just want these guys to keep playing.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.