Tiger Woods handed five-year driving ban after Florida crash

Tiger Woods has been fined and banned from driving for five years after entering a plea agreement to a reckless driving charge stemming from March's rollover crash in Florida. The 15-time major champion was arrested in March and spent eight hours in jail before being bailed, after the Land Rover he was driving collided with a pick-up truck towing a trailer and rolled over.

Woods had previously entered a written plea of not guilty through his lawyers to charges of driving under the influence, property damage and refusal to submit to testing. But the former world No 1 attended a plea conference hearing at Martin County Courthouse in Florida on Wednesday, where he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of reckless driving and to refusing an unlawful test.

What happened in court

Judge Darren Steele accepted the plea agreement, which amended the original DUI charge and resolved the refusal-to-submit charge. Woods also entered a no-contest plea to a careless driving citation. On the reckless driving second offence charge, he received a $1,000, or £748, fine along with the five-year driving suspension. On the refusal to submit to a lawful test count, he was fined $500, roughly £370.

Steele told the court there were no exceptions, and that if Woods were to drive for any reason at all, he would go immediately back to jail. Woods was also ordered to pay the minimum fine for the careless driving citation, which carries its own five-year driving ban running concurrently with the suspension tied to the reckless driving charge.

The 50-year-old said little during the hearing, which lasted under 10 minutes. He arrived at the courthouse with his girlfriend Vanessa Trump, President Donald Trump's former daughter-in-law, who sat behind him throughout. According to court documents, Woods was also fined court costs. A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt but means the accused offers no defence, and it is treated as a conviction within the criminal justice system.

President Trump, who Woods is understood to have called at the time of the crash, said he knew Woods very well and considered the punishment very fair. He added that Woods would now have someone drive him, something he said he had suggested to Woods a long time ago, and praised him as a special guy who suffers great pain.

The police report from the March 27 crash stated that deputies found two hydrocodone pills, used to treat pain, in Woods' pocket, and that he showed signs of impairment. It described his movements as slow and lethargic when speaking with deputies at the scene, and noted he appeared to be sweating with glassy eyes and dilated pupils. Woods managed to crawl out of his car without injury and told a deputy he had been looking down at his phone and changing the radio station when he hit the truck.

Away from competitive golf

Woods has not featured in a professional golf event since missing the cut at The Open in July 2024. He made his first public appearance since returning from treatment in Switzerland on June 23, when he introduced the PGA Tour's plans to revamp its schedule for 2028. Woods remained chairman of the PGA Tour's Future Competition Committee even after his arrest.