Steven Bowditch is an Australian golfer. Good player, currently on the PGA tour and the PGA tour of Australasia, known for bewitching eyebrows and a struggle with severe depression.

In the low-digit hours of February 3rd, Bowditch was arrested in Scottsdale, Arizona, for driving under the influence of alcohol. He was competing in the Phoenix Open there.

They ran him in. He bailed out. The next day he played in the open and shot 3 over par. This meant he missed the cut by 7 strokes. The trauma of his arrest? A hangover? Or just the way he plays? (Although it’s possible he often plays hungover.) It was the same score he’d gotten the day before his arrest.

Was he really driving drunk or were the Scottsdale police just being persnickety?

To be fair, he wasn’t driving when they apprehended him. He was peacefully sleeping. Behind the wheel. At an intersection. Where the light kept turning green and red and green again without disturbing his rest.

Earlier, the cops had gotten a report of a vehicle weaving all over the road, which they were checking out when they found the very mellow Bowditch.

The police were polite and gentle, as you can see from body-cam footage. They had Bowditch get out of the pickup (provided by the tournament). They asked him if he’d had anything to drink. He mumbled something about ten beers. (I couldn’t make out what he said when they asked him about other alcohol.) They asked him to walk a straight line, something they had to explain several times. They were kind and respectful, and repeatedly assured him they weren’t mocking him. When he chose to walk the line by shuffling along it sideways, they were surprised into laughing, but assured him they were laughing with him, not at him.

They had him blow into a breathalyzer. His blood alcohol reading was high – .182 percent. The legal limit in Arizona is .08. Later police said his reading went over .2 while in custody. That bumped the charge from DUI to “Extreme DUI.”

They tenderly cuffed him, chatting about golf, and took him away. (Wise of Bowditch not to be Latino or black. Scottsdale’s in Maricopa County.)

The next day, officials had a long chat with Bowditch. He issued a statement.

I would like to apologise to my family, friends and supporters, as well as the PGA TOUR and Waste Management Phoenix Open for the incident reported today. As I intend to fully cooperate with the authorities, I will not be making further comment at this stage.

Not good enough. He’s right to apologize to all those people, but he’s made a big mistake often made by DUI apologizers. (Like Idaho Senator Mike Crapo in 2012 or charming actor Reese Witherspoon in 2013.)

He’s viewing his arrest as a public shame, and publicly apologizing to those who he may have embarrassed. Who’s missing?

The public itself. People who are at risk when others drive drunk. There’s a reason DUI is a criminal offense. Not just because you look silly walking the line sideways. Drunk driving is dangerous. It ‘s good luck that he didn’t hurt anyone or damage anything, but the key word there isn’t DIDN’T. It’s LUCK.

Does he get a pass on admitting to endangering the public because he’s ‘cooperating fully’ with the authorities? Nope. Those authorities measured his blood levels. The fact that he was driving drunk is not in dispute – remember, he’s not disputing it, he’s cooperating fully – and that’s a menace.

My hope for Mr. Bowditch: May he get clued, may he get a handle on his drinking, and may he tear up the fairways – and issue a better apology, to the people he really put in harm’s way.