PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida: Superstar golfer Tiger Woods pleaded guilty to reckless driving and agreed to enter a diversion program Friday, five months after he was found passed out in his Mercedes with prescription drugs and marijuana in his system.
Woods, 41, spoke only briefly during a hearing at a Palm Beach County courthouse, answering questions from a judge about his plea agreement. Prosecutors dropped his driving under the influence charge, and the judge warned him to stay out of trouble.
“This particular plea agreement has no jail time on it. However, if you violate your probation in any significant way, I could revoke your probation and then I could sentence you to jail for 90 days with a fine of up to $500, is that understood?” Judge Sandra Bosso-Pardo said.
Woods, 41, nodded. He did not make any statement during the hearing or outside the courthouse.
In the diversion program, Woods will spend a year on probation and pay a $250 fine and court costs. He has already met some of the program’s other requirements, completing 50 hours of community service at the Tiger Woods Foundation, prosecutor Dave Aronberg said.
Aronberg didn’t say specifically what Woods did with the charitable group, but said he met the terms of the deal. Woods also attended a workshop where victims of impaired drivers detail how their lives were damaged.
Aronberg said most DUI offenders do not qualify for the diversion program because they have a prior record or were in an accident. About 2,500 first-time offenders have graduated from the county program since it began four years ago.
“This is designed for first-time offenders, where the person made a one-time mistake and they’re going to overcome it,” Aronberg said. “Mr. Woods was treated like any other defendant in his situation.”
Since he was intoxicated with prescription drugs and marijuana, according to court records, he will also be required to undergo regular drug tests.
Woods arrived at the courthouse in a black sport utility vehicle, wearing sunglasses and a dark suit with no tie. Police officers surrounded him as he walked down a hallway inside the courthouse and they ringed the inside of the courtroom during the high-profile proceeding.
Woods was arrested about 2 a.m. May 29 when officers found him unconscious in his Mercedes, which was parked awkwardly on the roadside and had damage to the driver’s side.
It’s not clear how he damaged the car. Officers checked the area but didn’t find that he had hit anything. He was about 15 miles from his home.
His arrest was recorded by an officer’s dashcam video and released to the public.
Woods had the active ingredient for marijuana, two painkillers — Vicodin and Dilaudid — the sleep drug Ambien and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in his system but no alcohol, according to a toxicology report released in August. He completed a drug treatment program in July.
Woods has said he had been self-medicating to relieve the pain from his fourth back surgery and insomnia.
The DUI arrest was the first time Woods had been in trouble since Thanksgiving weekend 2009, when he plowed his SUV into a tree and a fire hydrant outside his then-Windermere, Florida, home. That led to revelations that he had multiple extramarital affairs and a divorce from his wife Elin Nordegren, the mother of his two children. He spent 45 days in a Mississippi clinic where he was treated for an addiction.
Woods’ 79 PGA Tour victories and 14 major titles both rank No. 2 all-time. He has not competed since February because of his back injury and is not expected to return this year. His last win was in August 2013.
Woods has said his back is improving. Even though he has been a non-factor on the PGA Tour, Forbes Magazine lists Woods as the 17th best-paid athlete in the world in 2017, making $37 million, almost exclusively from endorsements.
Tiger Woods pleads guilty to reckless driving, avoids jail
Tiger Woods pleads guilty to reckless driving, avoids jail
Ilia Malinin hints at ‘inevitable crash’ amid Olympic pressure and online hate in social media post
- He says Olympic pressure and online hate have weighed on him. He described negative thoughts and past trauma flooding in during his skate
- He later congratulated the surprise champion, Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan
MILAN: Ilia Malinin posted a video on social media Monday juxtaposing images of his many triumphs with a black-and-white image of the US figure skater with his head buried in his hands, and a caption hinting at an “inevitable crash” amid the pressure of the Olympics while teasing that a “version of the story” is coming on Saturday.
That is when Malinin is expected to skate in the traditional exhibition gala to wrap up the Olympic figure skating program.
Malinin, who helped the US clinch the team gold medal early in the Winter Games, was the heavy favorite to add another gold in the individual event. But he fell twice and struggled throughout his free skate on Friday, ending up in eighth.
He acknowledged afterward that the pressure of the Olympics had worn him down, saying: “I didn’t really know how to handle it.”
Malinin alluded again to the weight he felt while competing in Milan in the caption to his social media video.
“On the world’s biggest stage, those who appear the strongest may still be fighting invisible battles on the inside,” wrote the 21-year-old Malinin. “Even your happiest memories can end up tainted by the noise. Vile online hatred attacks the mind and fear lures it into the darkness, no matter how hard you try to stay sane through the endless insurmountable pressure. It all builds up as these moments flash before your eyes, resulting in an inevitable crash.”
Malinin, who is expected to chase a third consecutive world title next month in Prague, had been unbeaten in 14 events over more than two years. Yet while Malinin always seemed to exude a preternatural calm that belied his age, the son of Olympic skaters Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov had admitted early in the Winter Games that he was feeling the pressure.
The first time came after an uneven short program in the team event, when he finished behind Yuma Kagiyama of Japan — the eventual individual silver medalist. Malinin referenced the strain of the Olympics again after the Americans had won the team gold medal.
But he seemed to be the loose, confident Malinin that his fans had come to know after winning the individual short program. He even playfully faked that he was about to do a risky backflip on the carpeted runway during his free skate introduction.
The program got off to a good start with a quad lutz, but the problems began when he bailed out of his quad axel. He ended up falling twice later in the program, and the resulting score was his worst since the US International Classic in September 2022.
Malinin was magnanimous afterward, hugging and congratulating surprise gold medalist Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan. He then answered a barrage of questions from reporters with poise and maturity that few would have had in such a situation.
“The nerves just went, so overwhelming,” he said, “and especially going into that starting pose, I just felt like all the traumatic moments of my life really just started flooding my head. So many negative thoughts that flooded into there and I could not handle it.”
“All I know is that it wasn’t my best skate,” Malinin added later, “and it was definitely something I wasn’t expecting. And it’s done, so I can’t go back and change it, even though I would love to.”
