Masters legend blasts Tiger Woods over accident, calls PGA Tour ‘weak’

As part of the consequences from Tiger Woods’ car crashthe five-time Masters winner will not play Masters 2026 next week. While many golf observers and organizations have voiced their support for Woods, one Masters legend and former Masters TV analyst is taking a very different route.

Three-time Masters champion Nick Faldo unloaded on Woods, criticizing him for the car crash for which he was charged with DUI in a recent media call.

But he didn’t stop there. Faldo also went on the PGA Tour for not holding Tiger accountable for his actions.

Nick Faldo criticizes Tiger Woods: “There should be some responsibility”

For most of this year, the golf world waited to hear whether or not Woods would return to the 2026 Masters. But now we know the answer.

On March 27, Woods was involved in a rollover accident near his home in Florida AND arrested and charged with DUI. Woods has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The day after, Tiger announced that he was “leaving” to seek treatment. The PGA Tour and Masters announced their support for Woods and praised him for his difficult decision.

But Faldo sees the situation differently. In a media call this week reported by The Independent AND The Timesamong other outlets, Faldo criticized both Woods and the organizations that offered their support to the 15-time major winner.

He called the PGA Tour’s reaction “predictably weak.”

“There’s a side that’s like ‘let’s take care of Tiger’ … there has to be a side of responsibility and accountability,” Faldo said. “That’s a serious thing he’s done, you know. The PGA Tour statement was so predictably weak, how they showed the Tour will take care of him, as they always have, and then you have Jack (Nicklaus) saying he’s tarnished the whole sport. You have your naysayers, but there has to be some accountability.”

He continued: “Our sport is based on discipline. You rule yourself, you police yourself. I would have thought the PGA Tour – behind closed doors – must be very disappointed that they pay Tiger tens of millions to be on and off the course with this business role that he has.”

He saved some of his harshest criticism for Tiger himself and argued that it was a “serious matter”.

“As a person, you know, look at his community. We shouldn’t be out on the street with two pills in our pocket,” Faldo said. “I think the world is quite divided, but at the end of the day, I really think that something … this is a serious matter.”

He expressed sympathy that Woods is living with pain, but also argued that his injuries are “self-inflicted.”

“I feel sorry for Tiger because he’s living in pain 24-7. I asked him years ago, even before the accident in LA (in 2021), but it was all self-inflicted,” Faldo said.

“The bottom line is that I really think something a little more serious needs to be done than handing her off to a tropical island and saying ‘Welcome back’ after three or four months.”

Faldo said he believes Woods will be back in a few months without facing any consequences, which he explained would never happen to someone charged with a DUI at other businesses.

“If you ended up for DUI a couple of times in your business, what would happen to you? Faldo said. “I have a feeling, like I said, if he disappears and comes back in a few months, it’s going to be business as usual, and I’m not sure if that’s fair, not a good message for kids today.”

Ultimately, Faldo said Woods has “evaded responsibility” because of “who he is.”

“I don’t know what I would ask the official bodies to decide, but you would have thought that in the normal course of life there would be some responsibility to do that, wouldn’t you?” Faldo said. “I think he’s always been a special case, because of who he is and what he’s done, so I suppose he’s avoided that responsibility.”

Faldo, who retired as CBS’ lead analyst after the 2022 season, is currently recovering from open-heart surgery he underwent earlier this year.