MARTIN COUNTY, Florida, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Tiger Woods will have his license suspended for five years after reaching a plea deal on Wednesday related to his impaired-driving case.
The 15-times major champion, who initially pleaded not guilty, was present for the change-of-plea hearing when Judge Darren Steele said two five-year driver’s license suspensions will run at the same time, one on a reckless driving charge and one on a careless driving citation.
“There are no exceptions. If you were to drive for any reason at all, you would go immediately back to jail,” Steele told the court.
The 50-year-old Woods, who was also handed fines, has 30 days to appeal the ruling.
Woods, dressed in a dark suit and tie, arrived at the Martin County Courthouse seated in the front passenger seat of a black SUV and did not answer questions from the gathered reporters as he and girlfriend Vanessa Trump walked in and out of the building for the 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT) change of plea hearing.
Woods, regarded as the greatest golfer of his generation, initially pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence charges stemming from his rollover crash in March.
At the time, Woods told authorities he was looking down at his phone and did not realise the truck in front of him had slowed down before his crash. No one was injured in the crash.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Woods had two hydrocodone pills in his pocket and officers observed him to be lethargic, slow, “sweating profusely” with eyes that were bloodshot, glassy and pupils that were “extremely dilated”.
Steele had granted Woods’ request to travel outside the United States to receive treatment in a controlled environment and, in a March statement, the golfer said he was stepping away to seek treatment and focus on his health.
In May, the judge granted prosecutors’ request to subpoena Woods’ prescription drug records, covering a period from the start of 2026 to March 27, the day Woods’ Land Rover rolled over on a two-lane road near his Jupiter Island home in Florida.
In July, the judge granted a similar request that allowed prosecutors to obtain hospital records connected to the golfer’s medical treatment following his crash.
Woods has won 15 major championships, second only to Jack Nicklaus with 18. He also has won 82 PGA Tour events, a record he shares with Sam Snead. He spent a record 683 weeks as world number one and is the only player to have held all four major titles at the same time, a feat known as the “Tiger Slam”.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto)
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