Tiger Woods receives five-year driving ban following no-contest plea in crash case

Tiger Woods pleaded no contest to reckless driving on Wednesday as part of an agreement with Florida prosecutors that reduced a DUI charge stemming from his rollover crash in March.

The 50-year-old was adjudicated guilty of willful and wanton reckless driving, a second offense, during a hearing in Martin County court. Under the agreement, Woods was fined $1,000 and had his driver's license suspended for five years. Prosecutors had originally charged him with driving under the influence with property damage.

Woods also pleaded no contest to refusing to submit to a lawful test and was fined $500 on that count. He received a concurrent five-year license suspension on a careless-driving citation and agreed not to seek a hardship exemption during the suspension. Court records show he paid $2,131.44 in fines and costs following Wednesday's hearing.

The plea agreement brings an end to the criminal case arising from the golfer's crash near his Florida home on Jupiter Island. He had previously pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Woods, dressed in a dark suit and tie, arrived at the Martin County Courthouse in the front passenger seat of a black SUV. He did not answer questions from the gathered reporters as he and his girlfriend, Vanessa Trump, walked in and out of the building for the change of plea hearing.

The charges stemmed from a 27 March crash in Hobe Sound. Martin County sheriff John Budensiek said Woods was driving a Land Rover that overturned after he attempted to overtake a truck on a narrow two-lane road shortly before 2pm.

The truck had been slowing to turn into a driveway when Woods approached at what Budensiek described as a "high rate of speed" on a road with a 30mph limit. Woods's vehicle clipped a trailer, veered off and came to rest on its driver's side after sliding along the roadway.

Woods, who was alone in the vehicle, was able to exit through the passenger side and was not injured. Investigators said he showed signs of impairment and subjected him to roadside tests before taking him into custody.

A breath test showed no alcohol in his system, but Woods refused to provide a urine sample for drug testing. He told investigators he had taken several medications earlier that day, including drugs for high blood pressure and cholesterol as well as ibuprofen and the prescription painkiller Vicodin, according to court filings released by prosecutors.

The filings also detailed a series of unusual remarks Woods made to officers at the scene. About an hour after the crash, he spoke of "10 to 15 drones" equipped with GoPro cameras flying over his home and car. At another point, after stepping away while on the phone, Woods told an officer he had "just [been] talking to the president" before trailing off. The documents did not identify which president he meant, although Donald Trump said later that day that he had spoken with Woods following the crash.

Woods also told officers he had been looking down at his phone to change the radio station when the collision occurred.

Prosecutors later sought access to Woods's prescription records from the months leading up to the crash. His attorneys objected, arguing that the records were private, and asked a judge to determine whether they were relevant to the case and to restrict their disclosure.

Days after his arrest, Woods announced that he would step away from golf "to seek treatment and focus on my health". A judge subsequently granted him permission to travel abroad to enter an inpatient treatment facility, which his attorney said was necessary for an intensive, individualized program.

The crash marked another high-profile traffic incident for Woods. In February 2021, he was seriously injured when his SUV veered off a road in Los Angeles at high speed, leaving him with leg and ankle injuries so severe that doctors considered amputation.

He was also arrested on a DUI charge in south Florida in 2017 after police found him asleep behind the wheel of a damaged vehicle. Woods later said he had taken a problematic combination of prescription medications and pleaded guilty to reckless driving.

Another incident took place in 2009, when Woods crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant and a tree outside his home in Windermere, Florida.

Woods has played a limited schedule in recent years amid chronic pain, injuries and multiple surgeries, including a seventh back procedure and a ruptured achilles tendon. He has not competed in an official PGA Tour event since July 2024.

An 82-time winner on the PGA Tour, Woods is tied with Sam Snead for the most victories in tour history. The 15-time major champion last won one at the 2019 Masters, his fifth title at Augusta National.