More drama for Tiger as wife's mother in health scare

Published on Tuesday 8 December 2009 21:45

THE drama surrounding Tiger Woods continued yesterday when his mother-in-law was carried from the family home on a stretcher and it was revealed Woods had been investigated for drinking and driving.

Woods was prescribed highly addictive narcotics and had been drinking before his car crash last month, according to newly released legal documents.

He was investigated for driving under the influence after his wife, Elin Nordegren, told Florida state troopers that he had "consumed alcohol earlier that day".

Documents from the Orange-Osceola state attorney's office in Orlando say the golfer was suspected by state troopers of being "impaired" when he got behind the wheel of his luxury Cadillac Escalade and drove it into a fire hydrant and a tree outside his home on 27 November.

However, a request by Florida Highway Patrol to subpoena his blood test results from a local hospital was refused by the state attorney. "Insufficient information provided to lawfully issue subpoena," was the response marked on the request, by assistant state attorney Steve Foster.

Woods's mother-in-law, Barbro Holmberg, collapsed with stomach pains and was rushed to hospital yesterday, days after flying in from Sweden to support her daughter, Elin Nordegren, as she struggles with news of her husband's serial adultery.

For the second time in 12 days, paramedics were called to the house on the exclusive Windermere estate in Orlando after receiving a 911 emergency call at 2:35am.

Mrs Holmberg, a former minister in the Swedish cabinet who has taken a week's leave from her current post as a county governor, was released about 11 hours after arriving at the hospital and returned to Woods's mansion.

She was treated at the same facility where Woods, semi-conscious and bleeding, was taken after his crash on 27 November, under the alias of William Smith to try to keep his presence low-profile. The world's number-one golf player whose once wholesome image helped build him into a billion-dollar marketing brand may now face questions from his sponsors over the report submitted by Florida Highway Patrol trooper Joshua Evans to the state attorney's office after the crash.

"Suspect: Eldrick Tiger Woods … Crime suspected: driving under the influence with property damage," it notes, requesting legal authority to seize Woods's blood test results from the hospital.

Next to the question, "why do you reasonably suspect a crime occurred?" Trooper Evans noted: "A witness stated that the driver had consumed alcohol earlier in the day … the same witness stated that the driver was prescribed medication (Ambien and Vicatin)" a misspelling of Vicodin, a painkiller that can be habit-forming.