Sept 1 (Reuters) – Tiger Woods is scheduled to appear in a Florida court on Wednesday to change his not guilty plea as part of an ongoing impaired-driving case against the 15-times major champion, court documents showed.
Woods’ attorney, Douglas Duncan, filed a document with the Martin County Circuit Court on Tuesday calling for a change of plea hearing, which is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT) on Wednesday in front of Judge Darren Steele.
No details were provided regarding what the plea would be changed to.
Reuters has contacted Woods’ agent and his lawyer for comment.
The 50-year-old 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.
At the time, Woods told authorities he was looking down at his phone and did not realize the truck in front of him had slowed down before his crash. No one was injured in the crash.
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”.
Steele 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.
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”.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto;Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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