Tiger Woods loses driving licence for five years after plea deal

Tiger Woods has lost his driving licence for five years after pleading no contest to a reduced reckless-driving charge following a rollover crash in Florida.

Woods appeared in a Martin County courtroom and also pleaded no contest to refusing to submit to testing. He received a fine covering court costs. A no-contest plea does not admit guilt, but the justice system treats it as a conviction.

The crash happened on a residential road on Jupiter Island when Woods’s SUV clipped a truck and rolled onto its side. A sheriff’s report said deputies found two pain pills in his pocket and observed signs of impairment. Woods took a Breathalyzer test that was negative but refused a urine test. He had pleaded not guilty to the original DUI charge.

Neither Woods nor the other driver was injured. A police report estimated that Woods’s Land Rover caused $5,000 in damage to the truck. Woods told a deputy he had been looking down at his phone and changing the radio station when he hit it.

Woods said little in court and left without speaking to reporters. He arrived with his girlfriend, Vanessa Trump, who sat behind him during the hearing. The case adds to a series of setbacks for one of golf’s most influential figures, whose career has also been disrupted by surgeries, crashes and dependence on pain medication. He has taken time away from the tour and has not returned to tournament play since the latest crash.