Tiger Woods resolved his latest legal troubles, and attention now turns to whether he will ever return to competitive golf.
The golf legend agreed to a lesser charge as part of a plea deal in a Martin County, Florida courthouse on Wednesday, Sept. 2, related to the DUI charge he faced following a rollover car accident more than five months ago. Woods, 50, pleaded no contest to the reduced charges of willful wanton reckless driving and refusal to submit to lawful test and had his driver’s license suspended for five years as part of the agreement.
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“The ultimate decision was made to bring closure to the case and to allow Tiger and his family to move on with their lives,” Woods’ attorney, Douglas Duncan, told WPBF-25 TV in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Before the March 27 incident, Woods had been working his way back from another surgery with an eye toward playing in The Masters and spoke optimistically about competing again. With his court case over, will he resume that pursuit? Here’s the latest on Woods’ injury status and recovery:
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Tiger Woods injury update
Woods announced in October 2025 that he underwent a disc replacement surgery on his lumbar spine. It was the seventh back surgery of his career, and the second in about a year’s time after he underwent microdecompression surgery in September 2024. Woods also needed surgery when he ruptured his Achilles in March 2025 while training and practicing at home.
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The 15-time major winner has not played in a professional golf tournament since The Open Championship in July 2024. Woods did commit to play in the 2025 Genesis Invitational, a tournament he hosts every year, before pulling out after the death of his mother.
What happened to Tiger Woods since the accident?
Woods announced four days after the March 27 crash that he was “stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment and focus on my health.” Since reportedly returning from a rehabilitation clinic in Switzerland in May, Woods has made several brief public appearances mostly in conjunction with the PGA Tour and has not publicly discussed his competitive golf future in detail.
Woods was reported to have been driving fast on a residential street on Jupiter Island, Florida, near his home on March 27 when he clipped the back of a pressure-washing trailer behind a truck. His SUV flipped and skidded down the street, and he climbed out of the skyward-facing passenger window.
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An arrest affidavit released after the incident alleged Woods failed field sobriety tests conducted by officers at the scene, and law enforcement found two hydrocodone pills in Woods’ pocket after the crash. Woods blew a 0.00 on two alcohol breath tests but declined to submit to a urinalysis.
Florida prosecutors said in a state court filing on April 7 they wanted to issue a subpoena seeking copies of “any and all prescription medication on file” for Woods as part of its case. Woods and his attorneys contested the release of those records before reaching the plea agreement announced in Wednesday’s court proceedings.
The no-contest plea results in a $1,000 fine for Woods and a five-year suspension of his driver’s license.
What Tiger Woods has said about golf future
Woods has not spoken directly about his playing future since the March 27 accident, but he did not rule out the possibility of playing in the 2026 Masters during several interviews before the incident occurred.
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Woods told reporters at the 2026 Genesis Invitational in February that playing The Masters this year was not off the table while detailing some of the challenges he must overcome to return to the PGA Tour.
“It’s just sore. It takes time. Willy Z went through it, and it took him a while to come back,” Woods said in February, referring to 29-year-old PGA Tour golfer Will Zalatoris, who underwent his own back surgery last year and returned to action late last season. “I’m a little bit older than Willy Z. It’s probably going to take me a little bit longer. My body has been through a lot.”
Added Woods: “It’s just one of those things where it’s each and every day, I keep trying, I keep progressing, I keep working on it, trying to get stronger, trying to get more endurance in this body and trying to get it at a level at which I can play at the highest level again. The quality of life was better back then because it was just new. It was my first operation, so I’ve had many operations since then, so body has been through a little bit more.”
Woods again declined to rule out the possibility of playing in the 2026 Masters when asked about it during the TGL finals in March.
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“I’ve been working on it,” he noted.
When could Tiger Woods return to golf?
There are two logical launching points for Woods to ease into a potential return to competition.
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The PNC Championship featuring father-son tandems has become an annual stop on Woods’ itinerary since his son, Charlie, became a competitive youth golfer. He had to miss the 2025 edition due to his recovery from back surgery. This year’s event takes place Dec. 19-20 in Orlando.
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The third season of TGL, the virtual golf league Woods helped start with Rory McIlroy, is also an option. Woods did not play during the 2025-26 season, which began on Dec. 28. The 2027 TGL schedule has not yet been announced.
The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in Southern California, scheduled for Feb. 18-21, 2027, could make sense for Woods to make his return to the PGA Tour since it’s the event on the PGA Tour calendar he hosts. The 2027 Players Championship in March might also be an option if Woods is healthy, though he hasn’t played the event since 2019.
But Woods has made clear in recent years that his focus is mostly on being healthy enough to play the majors at this point in his career. The Masters are slated to take place April 8-11 if Woods returns to competition in 2027.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Tiger Woods returning to competitive golf?
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