Tiger Woods appeared in a Martin County, Florida courtroom Wednesday morning and changed his plea in the DUI case stemming from his March car crash.
Woods, 50, entered a plea deal in which the original DUI charge was amended down to reckless driving, second offense. A second charge, refusal to submit to a lawful test, was reduced to a careless driving citation. The judge handed down a five-year driver’s license suspension on both charges, running concurrently. Woods also agreed to pay $1,500 in fines.
“This is for the safety of the public,” the judge told Woods in court. “There are no exceptions. If you were to drive for any reason at all, you would go immediately back to jail.”
Woods initially pleaded not guilty in March to misdemeanor DUI with property damage and refusal to submit to testing, along with a careless driving citation. He changed that plea Wednesday as part of the negotiated deal.
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Vanessa Trump, Woods’ girlfriend and the ex-wife of Donald Trump Jr., accompanied him to the courthouse and was seen leaving with him after the hearing.
The case dates back to March 27, when Woods was involved in a two-vehicle crash in Martin County near his home. According to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office incident report, Woods’ Land Rover struck a white Ford, causing the Rover to flip onto its driver’s side.
Woods told a deputy he had been looking at his phone and adjusting the radio when he failed to notice the vehicle ahead had slowed, according to the arrest affidavit. The deputy observed several signs of impairment at the scene, including profuse sweating and bloodshot, glassy eyes. Woods denied drinking alcohol but told deputies he had taken “a few” prescription medications that day. He was found carrying two hydrocodone pills in his pocket, an opioid typically prescribed for severe, chronic pain.
Following his arrest, a judge granted Woods permission to leave the country for treatment. He entered an inpatient rehabilitation program in Zurich, Switzerland, working with a specialist facility on both psychological treatment and pain management, the latter aimed at avoiding addictive opioids. Woods briefly returned to Florida in May before flying back to Switzerland to continue his recovery.
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His return trip to the U.S. coincided with Vanessa Trump revealing she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She called Woods her “strength” in a social media post as she began treatment.
Woods stepped away from golf in the weeks following the crash, saying he needed to “seek treatment and focus on my health” in order to “work toward lasting recovery.” He also declined to captain the 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup team and was not at Augusta for the Masters.
Wednesday’s hearing closes out the legal chapter of the March crash. Woods’ driving privileges remain suspended through 2031.
