You might have expected some missed moments or uneven airtime from NBC’s golf broadcast, but not misinformation. But this is what happened at the $9.9M Houston Open. They put out information that misrepresented what happened to Tiger Woods, and fans were not letting it go.

NBC aired footage from Tiger Woods’s 2021 Genesis GV80 rollover crash in Los Angeles, presenting it alongside the fresh March 27, 2026 DUI arrest, giving viewers the impression that the new incident was far more catastrophic than it actually was. In reality, Woods walked away from the March 27 crash entirely uninjured, with a breathalyzer reading of 0.00.

The 2021 footage, however, showed Tiger Woods unconscious with multiple broken leg bones after driving at more than twice the speed limit. Airing that during a live $9.9M broadcast at Memorial Park Golf Course, without any distinction between the two incidents, was a factual failure that demanded an immediate response.

To understand why the error landed so badly, the March 27 incident itself tells a straightforward story.

Woods was driving his Land Rover near his Jupiter Island, Florida, home when he attempted to pass a truck pulling a trailer on a two-lane road. The vehicle rolled after striking the trailer. Woods crawled out the passenger window unharmed. His breathalyzer registered 0.00, ruling out alcohol entirely.

Deputies determined impairment through multiple field sobriety tests, and Woods refused a urine test. He was charged with misdemeanor DUI, property damage, and refusal to submit to a lawful test. By 11:15 p.m. ET the same night, Woods had left Martin County Jail through a side entrance in the passenger seat of an SUV.

The weight of Tiger Woods’ real crash history made it even harder to defend NBC’s choice of footage.

Woods crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant and a tree outside his Windermere, Florida, home in November 2009. He was found unconscious and only got a $164 careless driving ticket with no DUI investigation.

In 2017, a police officer in Jupiter, Florida, found Woods asleep at the wheel of a stopped Mercedes with the blinker still on. A toxicology report showed that he had Vicodin, Dilaudid, Xanax, Ambien, and THC in his system. He admitted to driving carelessly and finished DUI school.

The 15x major champion’s SUV hit a tree in Rolling Hills Estates, California, in February 2021. It was going more than twice the speed limit of 45 mph. He was unconscious when they found him, couldn’t remember anything, and needed a lot of surgery on several broken leg bones. That was the footage NBC pulled for a March 27 incident where Woods walked away without a scratch.

And that disconnect between what happened and what aired did not go unnoticed.

Fans call out NBC’s misstep as frustration spills over

“THANK YOU!!! I just tweeted that twice. Absolutely garbage journalism!” a fan fired back.

The 2021 crash left Tiger Woods unconscious with shattered leg bones requiring life-changing surgery. In contrast, the March 27 crash left him unharmed. Even the released photos show him standing properly and talking on the phone.

“I posted that as soon as I saw it. Terrible reporting. Amateurs,” another fan stated, pointing to how fast the misinformation spread during the Houston Open’s final weekend.

With the $9.9M purse on the line and a large golf audience tuned in at Memorial Park, the reach of the error was significant, and the damage to NBC’s credibility was real. Fans are not holding back, as everyone is saying the same thing.

“This was deliberate. All to fool those into believing it was much more dangerous and dramatic than it really was. Not downplaying yesterday’s events but this obvious media manipulation is disgusting.”

“Stupid mistake. You can do better,” read another reaction.

“D Bags,” one commenter put it plainly. After being arrested on misdemeanor charges and released from Martin County Jail by 11:15 p.m., Woods faced impairment charges without alcohol involvement. And what NBC aired was 2021 footage!

NBC’s error will fade, but it was a clear reminder that when the subject is Tiger Woods, the cost of getting the facts wrong is never small.