Tiger Woods, the 15-time major champion, was back on a practice range Tuesday, September 15, 2026, swinging freely with what appeared to be a mid-iron at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey — the first time he has hit golf balls in public since his March 27, 2026 car crash. He was there for a charity event he hosts, not a return to tournament play.
Woods, 50, had come to Liberty National for the NEXUS Cup, an exclusive two-day amateur team competition that raises money for his TGR Foundation. The event dates to 2019 and normally includes a clinic from Woods, though his legal situation had left this year’s appearance in doubt.
Footage of the session first showed up on the TGR Foundation’s live events Instagram account, and the PGA Tour reposted it with a caption: “Tiger Woods is back on the range! His last PGA Tour start was July 2024.” Woods shared the clip on his own feed as well.
What Woods Said at the Clinic
The master of ceremonies put two questions to him at the clinic: how the game was coming along, and how many balls he was hitting. “I can hit pretty much anything,” Woods said, and he repeated the assessment when pressed on his routine. Golf influencer Tisha Alyn shared footage in which he blamed some stiffness on a late night spent socializing with guests at the event.
The Crash and the Court Case
Woods rolled his Land Rover SUV on Friday, March 27, on a residential street near his Florida home, after he clipped the back of a trailer that a pickup was towing as it turned into a driveway. He climbed out through the passenger door; neither he nor the other vehicle’s driver was hurt. He was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI).
No alcohol turned up on the breathalyzer, which registered zero, and Woods told officers he had not had a drink that day. Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said Woods passed the breath test but declined a urinalysis screening for other drugs. Investigators believed the cause might have been medication he had taken, the sheriff said, and while Woods did not appear injured, he showed signs of impairment. The initial police affidavit had him sweating heavily, lethargic and slow, with bloodshot, glassy eyes.
According to a sheriff’s office report, two pain pills were also found in Woods’ pocket after the March crash, on top of those signs of impairment.
By his own account to officers, Woods had looked down at his phone just before the impact and had been distracted changing the radio station. Asked about prescription medication, he said he took a few and had taken them earlier that morning. Afterward, he said in a statement that he was stepping away for a period of time to “seek treatment and focus on my health.”
Woods traveled to Switzerland for rehab in the spring and had stayed largely out of the public eye in the months after the crash. His range session came nearly two weeks after the case ended. At the Martin County Courthouse in Florida on Wednesday, September 2, he pleaded no contest to willful, wanton and reckless driving and to refusing to submit to a urine test, and the DUI charge was dropped under the agreement. His attorneys had earlier filed a written not-guilty plea covering counts of DUI, property damage and test refusal.
The court fined him $1,000 on the driving count and $500 for the refusal, and handed down two concurrent five-year suspensions of his driver’s license. Even so, as of September 15 he is still permitted to drive a golf cart on the course, “at least in Florida.” With a no-contest plea, a defendant offers no defense and admits no guilt, but the court treats it as a conviction. His girlfriend, Vanessa Trump, once a daughter-in-law to President Donald Trump, went with him to the courthouse and sat behind him in a mostly empty courtroom.
Martin County State Attorney Thomas Bakkedahl told reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing: “Of all the people in the world who should not get behind the wheel of the car, it’s the gentleman who is one of the most recognizable faces on the planet.” He added: “Somebody will see him, whether it’s in Georgia or Nevada or New York or where have you. He’s not to drive a car.”
The Injuries Behind the Layoff
His record runs to 82 career PGA Tour victories and 15 major titles — five Masters, four PGA Championships, three U.S. Opens and three Open Championships. The 2019 Masters at Augusta National delivered his last major, and the 2019 Zozo Championship his last win of any kind. He last teed it up on the PGA Tour at the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon, where he missed the cut.
Injuries have run his calendar for years. A separate car crash in 2021 left him with severe lower right leg injuries, and he has had seven back operations, the latest a disk replacement in October 2025 to address pain and mobility problems. At the clinic, the emcee asked where his game stands as he comes back from disk replacement surgery and a torn Achilles tendon “over the last year-plus.” He sat out the 2026 Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Open Championship. His last public swing before Liberty National had come in March, playing for his Jupiter Links team in the indoor TGL final.
What Could Come Next
Nothing competitive sits on his schedule, and Woods gave no timetable for a return. He turned 50 in December 2025, making him eligible for the over-50s PGA Tour Champions, where players are permitted to use golf carts in competition.
The PGA Tour Policy Board has approved four primary entry paths into the Championship Series starting in 2028, and Woods lacks a clear route in. Golf writer Bob Harig noted a one-time exemption tied to the all-time money list, but Scottie Scheffler has passed Woods there, with career earnings topping $130 million to Woods’ just under $121 million.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said of Woods during the legal proceedings: “Tiger Woods is one of the most influential figures the sports world has ever known.”
December’s PNC Championship has drawn speculation as well. Woods has played the parent-child event five times with his son, Charlie Woods, and the two finished runner-up at the 2021 edition to the father-and-son team of John Daly and John Daly II.
The NEXUS Cup also put him on a course with tour golf ahead of it. Liberty National, which staged the 2017 Presidents Cup and a FedExCup Playoffs event in 2019, will host the 2027 BMW Championship as the penultimate event of the 2027 FedExCup season. The Hero World Challenge, which Woods hosts in the Bahamas, is scheduled for November 30 to December 6.
