Tiger Woods strikes plea deal in DUI case, has license suspended

Tiger Woods, the golf legend, entered a plea of no contest to a reckless driving charge in his Florida DUI case on Wednesday at the Martin County Courthouse. This decision came months after he had initially pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor charges. Woods was not guilty of DUI with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test.

The incident occurred in March when his Land Rover clipped a truck and rolled onto its side on Jupiter Island, Florida. The arrest report stated that Woods was driving at high speeds on a residential road with a 30 mph speed limit and had caused $5,000 in damage to the truck. Despite testing zero for alcohol, Woods refused a urine test and admitted to taking prescription medications, including hydrocodone, at the time of the crash.

Prosecutors faced challenges in proving impairment from drugs rather than alcohol due to a lack of a urine test and Woods' potential tolerance to hydrocodone. However, the state attorney concluded that proving impairment was too difficult and dropped the DUI charge, replacing it with reckless driving. Woods, who is 50, has had a controversial career marred by car accidents, a dependence on pain pills, and multiple surgeries. In 2021, he narrowly escaped amputation after a crash in Los Angeles.