MARTIN COUNTY, Florida — Tiger Woods reached a plea deal with prosecutors on Wednesday in connection with DUI charges against him, following a car crash near his Florida home earlier this year.
Woods, 50, appeared in a Martin County courtroom and pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of reckless driving and refusal to submit to a lawful test. The troubled golfer also agreed to have his driving license suspended for five years and to pay court costs and fees.
In March, Woods crashed his car and rolled it over on Jupiter Island, just north of Palm Beach, Florida. He initially pleaded not guilty to two charges — driving under the influence and refusing to submit to testing — in connection with the crash.
A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but means the accused will offer no defense. The plea is treated as a conviction in the criminal justice system.
Woods’ attorney and prosecutors did not return requests for comment. The golf champion later left the courthouse without addressing reporters.
Woods arrived at the courthouse with his girlfriend, Vanessa Trump, President Donald Trump’s former daughter-in-law. She sat behind him during the hearing.
The March crash involved a dark Land Rover that Woods had been driving and a truck carrying a trailer, according to officials.
At the time, the driver of the truck said he was starting to turn into a driveway off a two-lane road when he looked into his mirror and saw Woods driving “at high speeds.”
The driver tried veering off the road, but Woods’ Land Rover “overtook” the truck at the last minute, swerving to avoid a crash, officials said. Woods ultimately clipped the back of the trailer.
Woods’ SUV rolled onto the driver’s side door, according to officials, leaving the golfer to exit by climbing out of the window.
Neither Woods nor the truck driver were injured in the crash.
In the days following the incident, Woods said in a statement on social media that he was seeking treatment. “I know and understand the seriousness of the situation I find myself in,” he wrote.
Woods, who is among the most influential figures in golf, has been involved in a number of road incidents in recent years.
In 2021, he was part of a rollover crash in Southern California but did not face criminal charges for the incident.
The golf champion was also arrested and charged with a DUI in Florida in 2017. He checked himself into a clinic that same year.
