By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-09-02 15:59:53 | Updated at 2026-09-02 16:42:07
1 hour ago
Tiger Woods leaves the Martin County Courthouse in Stuart, Fla., on September 2, 2026. Tiger Woods is expected to change his plea in the case over a DUI crash that occurred on March 27, 2026, on Jupiter Island in Martin County. Saul Martinez/Getty Images
Golf legend Tiger Woods pleaded no contest on Sept. 2 to a reckless driving charge related to a rollover crash in March near his home in Florida.
Woods, 50, appeared in a Martin County courtroom, where he agreed to the reduced charge. County Judge Darren Steele ordered that his driver’s license be suspended for five years.
Originally charged with driving under the influence, he also pleaded no contest to declining to submit to urine testing and was fined court costs, according to court documents.
Woods said little during the hearing and sat at the defense table, looking back at the courtroom gallery. He was accompanied at the courthouse by his girlfriend, Vanessa Trump, President Donald Trump’s former daughter-in-law. She sat behind him during the hearing.
Woods did not address reporters as he left the courthouse.
Pleading no contest means the accused will not offer a defense, but it is not an admission of guilt. This is treated as a conviction in the criminal justice system.
Woods’s Land Rover caused $5,000 in damage to a truck carrying a trailer after Woods collided with it while traveling at high speeds on a beachside residential road on Jupiter Island with a 30 mph speed limit.
He crawled out of the vehicle without any injuries and told a deputy that he was looking down at his phone and changing the radio station when he hit the truck. Woods and the person in the other vehicle were not injured in the crash, according to officials.
He agreed to a Breathalyzer test, which showed no signs of alcohol, but declined to take a urine test, authorities said. Deputies found two pain pills in his pocket, and he showed signs of impairment, according to a sheriff’s office report.
Woods had pleaded not guilty to the original DUI charge.
He traveled outside of the United States to get treatment at an inpatient treatment facility, according to court records.
In July, Steele signed off on an agreement where prosecutors could review medical records related to Woods’s crash and arrest. The judge approved a similar agreement in May that allowed prosecutors access to all prescription medication records for Woods at a Palm Beach pharmacy from the beginning of the year through the end of March.
Woods is among the most influential figures in the history of golf, but his career has been derailed by multiple back and knee surgeries, car crashes, and pain medication dependence.
Woods’s first public appearance since returning from treatment was on June 23, when he introduced the PGA Tour’s plans to revamp its schedule for 2028.
He remained as chairman of the tour’s Future Competition Committee following his arrest. He did not take questions in that appearance.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
