Scottie Scheffler detained by police, placed in handcuffs trying to enter PGA Championship
The world’s No. 1 golfer, Scottie Scheffler was detained by police on Friday morning after a misunderstanding of traffic flow according to Jeff Darlington of ESPN. Darlington witnessed the interaction between police and Scheffler outside of Valhalla Golf Club.
Scheffler has since been arrested and booked by the Louisville Police. Scheffler’s mug shot has now surfaced online. Scheffler is charged with assault of a police officer in the second degree, criminal mischief in the third degree, reckless driving, and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic.
Scheffler was released from custody shortly before 9 a.m. ET, per the broadcast of the PGA Championship and ESPN. He has now arrived at the course.
Per multiple reports, a “pedestrian-involved fatality” caused a traffic jam near Valhalla Golf Club. Golfers and caddies were going around the scene in order to get inside the golf club and many did with no issue. Scheffler, however, was stopped. The tournament was delayed due to the accident but is set to begin at 8:35 a.m. ET, according to ESPN’s Michael Collins.
Scheffler’s lawyer explained more on the situation following the arrest. Darlington went into more depth on SportsCenter.
“Early morning here at Valhalla Golf Club, still very dark out, still rainy, there was an accident on the road just past the entrance to Valhalla Golf Club,” said Darlington. “Traffic had been backed up and building. Scottie Scheffler tried to enter Valhalla Golf Club using a side median, at which point a police officer instructed him to stop.
“Scheffler attempted to continue to go. The police officer then attached himself to the side of Scheffler’s car. Scheffler stopped the vehicle as he turned into Valhalla Golf Club at the entrance, about 10-20 yards from the point at which the police officer first told him to stop.
“At that point, the police officer instructed Scheffler to get out of the car. There was probably 20-30 seconds that Scheffler sat in the car and did not move. He had rolled down the window. The police officer — when he rolled down the window, grabbed his arm and started pulling at it. Scheffler — I believe he reached inside, opened the car door, pulled Scheffler out, pushed him up against the car, immediately placed him in handcuffs. At which point, Scottie Scheffler, seeing me behind him, said, ‘can you help?’
“The police officers instructed me to step back. I instructed I was a member of the media. They walked Scottie Scheffler to the police car. A police officer turned to me at me and said ‘You need to get out of the way.’ He told me, ‘There’s nothing you can do.’ Scottie Scheffler is going to jail.”
Darlington took video of Scheffler being led away from the scene by police in handcuffs.
Scheffler also released a statement on the situation. In it, Scheffler explained he never intended to disregard law enforcement.
Collins took to SportsCenter with an update after the breaking news. According to Collins, other players were not treated the same by police as Scheffler was.
“When I got down here to the grounds, the first thing I did was go over by the putting green and I saw a player and a caddie putting. I said, ‘Hey, tell me about the troubles you had getting into the course.’ He said, ‘We got here about 5:45. Myself and my caddie were in the car together and we did the exact same move Scottie Scheffler attempted to do, and that was go around traffic and turn into the golf course. When the security or police officer saw the car, and the markings on the side of the car, they just waved us through with no issues whatsoever. Didn’t have to roll our windows down or anything.'”
Scheffler is currently the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world thanks to his current run on the Tour. After opening the first five events of the year with four top 10 finishes, Scheffler went on a tear. From early march through mid-April, Scheffler won four of his five starts. In that run, Scheffler won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, PLAYERS Championship, the RBC Heritage and The Masters, the first major of the year. Scheffler’s only non-winner was a second place finish at the Houston Open.
Scheffler opened up the first round ot the PGA Championship with a score of 67 (-4) on Thursday. His round included a hole-out from 169 yards on the first hole of his tournament for an eagle.