Tiger Woods hit with multi-year license suspension after pleading guilty

[p]The 15-times major champion, who initially pleaded not guilty, was present for the change-of-plea hearing ‌when Judge Darren Steele said two five-year driver's license suspensions will run at the same time, ‌one on a reckless driving charge and one on a careless ‌driving citation.[/p][p][b]"There are no exceptions. If you were to drive for any reason ‌at all, you would go immediately back to jail," [/b]Steele told ‌the court.[/p][p]The 50-year-old [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/woods-tiger/jcA2kkj7/"]Woods[/a], who was also handed fines, has 30 days to appeal the ruling.[/p][p]Woods, dressed in a dark suit and tie, arrived at the Martin County ‌Courthouse seated in the front passenger seat of a ⁠black SUV and did not answer ‌questions from the gathered reporters as he and girlfriend Vanessa Trump walked in ​and out of the building for the 8:30 a.m. ET (13:30 CET) change of plea hearing.[/p][image alt="Tiger Woods flanked by his girlfriend, Vanessa Trump, leaves the courthouse" id="1454bf41-7c63-46e3-844a-8c768429edbe" credit-line="Reuters / Marco Bello" guid="f3972888-3a24-4bad-b2f4-c47b4651e70a" original-width="4486" original-height="2991" /][p][b]Woods, regarded as the greatest golfer of his ​generation, initially pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence charges stemming from his rollover crash in March.[/b][/p][p]At the time, Woods told authorities he was ⁠looking down at his phone ​and did not realise the truck in front of him had slowed down before his crash. No one was injured in the crash.[/p][p]According to a probable cause affidavit, Woods had two hydrocodone pills in his pocket, and officers observed ‌him to be lethargic, slow, "sweating profusely" with eyes that were bloodshot, glassy and pupils that were "extremely dilated."[/p][p]Steele had granted Woods' request to travel outside the United States to receive treatment in a controlled environment and, in a March statement, the golfer said he was stepping away to seek treatment and focus on his health.[/p][image alt="Tiger Woods in the courtroom for his plea hearing" id="05e39ffc-dc53-408d-8e37-23605377a0e1" credit-line="Reuters / Marco Bello" guid="c9686229-1685-4aa8-9c45-5b0ad135e950" original-width="3000" original-height="2000" /][p]In May, the judge granted prosecutors' request to subpoena Woods' prescription drug records, covering a period from the start of 2026 to March 27th, the day Woods' Land Rover rolled over ‌on a two-lane road near his Jupiter Island home in Florida.[/p][p]In July, ​the judge granted a similar request that allowed prosecutors to obtain hospital records ‌connected to the golfer's medical treatment following his crash.[/p][p]Woods has won 15 major championships, second only to Jack Nicklaus with 18. He also has won 82 PGA Tour events, a record he shares with Sam Snead. He spent a record 683 weeks as world number one and ⁠is the only player to ⁠have held all four major ‌titles at the same time, a feat known as the 'Tiger Slam'.[/p]