Scheffler puts arrest behind him to
stay in PGA contention
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[May 18, 2024]
By Frank Pingue
(Reuters) -Scottie Scheffler never considered not playing in the PGA
Championship second round after his early-morning arrest on Friday
and spent time stretching in his jail cell before competing at
Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
The world's top-ranked golfer was left in shock and shaking for an
hour after being handcuffed and put in a police car due to what he
said was a misunderstanding regarding traffic flow following a fatal
accident outside Valhalla.
Scheffler, although rattled by the incident, never lost his focus
and took time while locked up to get in some stretching.
"That was a first for me," Scheffler told reporters. "I was just
sitting there waiting and I started going through my warmup, I felt
like there was a chance I may be able to still come out here and
play."
Scheffler, known for his unflappable temperament, said the officer
who took him to jail, where he was pictured in an orange jumpsuit
for his mug shot, was kind and credited the talk they had in the car
for helping him to calm him down.
While in jail, Scheffler said he could see images of himself from
the morning incident on a nearby TV, and did all he could to get his
heart rate down.
"My main focus after getting arrested was wondering if I could be
able to come back out here and play, and fortunately I was able to
do that," said Scheffler. "It was nice to put together a solid round
today for sure."
According to the police report, Scheffler was heading eastbound to
gain access to the course in Louisville, Kentucky and pulled into
the westbound lanes, where outbound traffic was flowing, to avoid
backed-up vehicles.
The report said the officer stopped Scheffler, who was in a marked
player-courtesy vehicle, but that the golfer refused to comply and
accelerated forward, dragging the officer to the ground.
"It was just a huge misunderstanding this morning. That'll get
resolved I think fairly quickly," said Scheffler.
"I came here for a golf tournament. I was driving in this morning,
trying to get to my warmup time and get ready for the round of golf.
I didn't really have an understanding of what had transpired this
morning."
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![](../images/obits/sports20.jpg)
May 17, 2024; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Scottie Scheffler walks off
the 11th green during the second round of the PGA Championship golf
tournament at Valhalla Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Jon Durr-USA
TODAY Sports
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FULL CO-OPERATION
Louisville police, who are investigating the incident and said all
involved parties were fully co-operating, added that the officer was
taken to hospital after suffering pain, swelling and abrasions to
his left wrist and knee.
Steve Romines, a local attorney hired on Scheffler's behalf, said
the golfer was charged with second-degree assault of a police
officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and
disregarding traffic signals from an officer.
After arriving at Valhalla under steady rain, Scheffler was greeted
by plenty of encouragement from fans and headed straight to the
driving range before getting down to business on the course.
Scheffler, whose wife gave birth to their first child last week, is
seeking his fifth win in six starts and second consecutive major
title. He mixed six birdies with a bogey in a five-under-par 66.
"It took a few holes to settle in," Scheffler said. "It was kind of
nice just to be out there inside the ropes competing. It's one of my
favorite things in the world to do, so I was fortunate to be able to
come out here and do it again today."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis and Ed
Osmond)
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