Tiger Woods banned from driving for five years after Florida crash

The 15-time major champion appeared at Martin County Courthouse on Wednesday for a plea hearing, where he reached an agreement that saw the original driving under the influence (DUI) charge amended to reckless driving.

Woods was also charged over his refusal to submit to testing following the crash, with that charge resolved as part of the plea agreement. He additionally entered a plea to a careless driving citation.

The 50-year-old was arrested in March and spent eight hours in jail before being released on bail after the Land Rover he was driving was involved in a collision with a pickup truck towing a trailer.

Judge Darren Steele accepted the plea agreement on Wednesday. Woods was fined $1,000 and handed a five-year driving suspension for the second-offence reckless driving charge. He was fined a further $500 for refusing to submit to a lawful test.

"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.

Woods said little during the brief hearing, which lasted less than 10 minutes. He arrived at the courthouse alongside Vanessa Trump, his girlfriend and former daughter-in-law of US President Donald Trump, who sat behind him throughout the proceedings.

Woods reportedly phoned President Trump at the scene of the accident.

Trump later said of the incident: "I know Tiger very well. He's a great guy. He's unique in so many ways and especially as an athlete but also as a man. You know, he suffers great pain, great pain.

"I thought it [the punishment] was very fair. I think he's going to have somebody drive him. I told him a long time, why don't you get somebody to drive you? So he's going have somebody driving him from now on. He's just a very special guy. I'm glad that was resolved."

Woods has not played in any professional golf event since missing the cut at The Open in July 2024.

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