Tiger Woods sat in Martin County Court on Wednesday with his girlfriend Vanessa Trump and his attorney Douglas Duncan, and heard Judge Darren Steele lay out the terms of a plea deal that keeps him out of jail and off the road for the next five years.

“There are no exceptions. If you were to drive for any reason at all, you would go immediately back to jail,” Steele told him.

That is a sweeping instruction to hand a 15-time major winner whose sport is largely played on the back of a small electric vehicle. And Florida cannot say for certain whether the ban applies to that one, too.

From DUI charge to reckless driving

Woods had originally pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence with property damage and refusing to submit to a lawful test after the March 27 rollover. On Wednesday, he changed his plea to no contest as the state amended both counts.

Read also: Juventus land Sarr on loan, but the €27.5m obligation comes with two conditions attached

The DUI count was reduced to reckless driving, second offence. The refusal charge became a careless driving citation. Steele imposed two five-year licence suspensions, running concurrently, along with around $1,500 in fines. Woods avoided jail time.

State Attorney Thomas Bakkedahl said the file was a “particularly difficult DUI to prove”. Woods’ documented gait issues from years of back and knee surgeries made the roadside sobriety tests unreliable, he refused a urine screening, and toxicology could not establish impairment.

The March crash itself came in the early afternoon on South Beach Road in Jupiter Island. Woods’ Land Rover approached a truck pulling a small pressure-cleaning trailer at high speed, attempted to pass, and clipped the back of the trailer. The SUV tipped and slid along the road on its side. No one was hurt. A breathalyser showed no alcohol; two hydrocodone pills were found in his pocket, both prescribed.

The one vehicle no one will rule on

Florida statute defines a golf cart as a motor vehicle designed and manufactured for operation on a golf course. That is the same legal category as the Land Rover Woods was arrested in. Read literally, the judge’s warning that “any reason at all” would send him back to jail extends to the electric buggy that keeps almost all amateur play in Florida moving.

Read also: Ferrari bring engine upgrade to their home race and Hamilton says: 'We can fight for the win'

The state has not said whether it will read the plea deal that way. Heavy, which first raised the question in its coverage of Wednesday’s hearing, reported that officials would have to “look into that” before confirming whether Woods is prevented from operating a cart. TMZ Sports has reported that the deal does cover them.

Larry Brown Sports noted that the answer is Florida-specific: it would be “more of a gray area if Woods tried to operate a golf cart in a state where they are not considered motor vehicles.”

Woods has not teed it up since 2024

He has not played on the PGA Tour since 2024, missing the cut at the Open Championship at Royal Troon that July, and he did not enter any of this year’s majors.

Woods will be eligible to reapply for his driving licence in 2031.

Read also: The sign Liverpool players touch for luck heads to auction

Read also: 80,000 tickets sold, and one thing Eddie Hearn wishes he had done sooner for Katie Taylor