As the news of Tiger Woods' arrest for driving under the influence in Jupiter, Florida broke on Monday, one news outlet began to use a slightly different version of his mugshot.

ESPN proudly displayed the ubiquitous photo of Woods, but appeared to have given him a cleaner haircut via Photoshop in its 'Breaking News' banner.

His unkempt hair was cropped short in the ESPN version and the mugshot was displayed on a light blue background, as keenly spotted by Sports Illustrated.

While the editing job is obvious, the reason behind the decision is less so.

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In telling the story of Tiger Woods' arrest for driving under the influence, ESPN used a different version of his mugshot - one where his hair is noticeably cropped to appear tidier

One Twitter user pointed out that ESPN was also using the original mugshot, supporting the idea that the photo was altered merely for speed in creating the 'Breaking News' banner

ESPN has had a close relationship with the golfer for years, and there has been some speculation that the organization could be trying to protect him by making the photo more appealing.

But, as Business Insider pointed out, it could simply be a result of quick editing.

The 'magnetic freeform pen' tool on Photoshop allows a user to crop an image away from its background, but can accidentally skip over parts of the image that are less defined - like the small wisps of Woods' hair.

Or, if ESPN was merely looking to switch the background color of the mugshot, it would have been much easier to crop the untidy hair away than to go through and delete the bits of green at the top of the image.

Whatever the motivation for the editing job, it doesn't help Woods much.

He was arrested around 3am on Military Trail, south of Indian Creek Parkway in Jupiter, Florida.

Arrest information from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office shows Woods was booked into jail at 7.18am on Monday and released on his own recognizance at 10.50am, meaning he did not have to post bail.

Of notorious mugshots, Woods' most recent is high on the list - depending on which one you're looking at

When he was pulled him over, the officer said he smelled alcohol on Woods' breath and that Woods became 'arrogant.'

The officer asked him to blow into a breathalyzer and he refused, which in Florida results in an automatic DUI arrest and license suspension.

On Monday night, Woods responded to the controversy in a statement.

'I understand the severity of what I did and I take full responsibility for my actions,' he said.

'I want the public to know that alcohol was not involved. What happened was an unexpected reaction to prescribed medications. I didn’t realize the mix of medications had affected me so strongly.

The athlete currently earns $45.5million in one year alone in sponsorship money - including more than $20million from his Nike contract - but could lose lucrative endorsements after his most recent arrest.