The time of year in golf was simply Scottie Scheffler arrested by Louisville Metro Police on the morning of May 17 before the second round of the PGA Championship.
Let’s not think too hard about this one – nothing compared to the shock of learning that the world number 1 had been booked, imprisoned and was lying in a Louisville cell just hours before his start time in the second round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf. Club.
Scheffler, who had already won the Players Championship in March and the Masters in April, entered the PGA, the second major championship of the season, with four victories in his last five starts and the only week he is not walked away with a trophy as he missed a 5-foot putt to force the playoff and finished second. He was in the middle of a Tiger Woods-style run and it seemed that perhaps the only thing that could slow him down was the birth of his first child, a son, Bennett, whose impending birth meant he had skipped the CJ Cup in his hometown of Dallas and the Wells Fargo Championship, a signature event. But Bennett arrived on May 8, eight days before the PGA kicked off in Louisville. Scheffler showed no rust in the first round, shooting a solid 5-under 67 and the question of the moment remained: What, if anything, could slow him down?
That is until Louisville Det. Bryan Gillis said, “Hold my beer.”
We’re kidding, but the reason Gillis, the officer who strapped himself into the side of Scheffler’s car that fateful morning and suffered “pain, swelling and abrasions to his left wrist,” not to mention damage to his pants, directed traffic outside the club. that morning, it was because a man was struck and killed by a shuttle around 5 a.m.
Scheffler, who was perhaps the last professional golfer in the field who would be expected to take a mugshot in an orange jumpsuit, was simply trying to make his way to the entrance of Valhalla Golf Club. Since Gillis did not turn on his body camera during the encounter, we will never know for sure whether Scheffler’s actions warranted the level of police response. Fortunately, ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington was in the car behind Scheffler and got out of his vehicle and saw Scheffler being taken away in handcuffs and provided a report on the scene. Scheffler was initially charged with second-degree assault on a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and failure to comply with traffic by an officer directing traffic.
As Scheffler said in the PGA Tour documentary “Scottie ’24,” he wasn’t stopped on his bingo card that week.
Scheffler was released Friday at 8:40 a.m. ET without bond. He arrived in Valhalla less than an hour before his scheduled departure at 10:08 a.m. ET. It was hard to tell what happened faster: fans sporting T-shirts with his photo ID and chanting “Free Scottie!” » or Scheffler becoming a household name. There’s no doubt he’s never had so much support and, despite his “panic” over his arrest, he still managed to shoot 66 in what his long-time instructor Randy Smith had dubbed the ride of his life. Nothing more proved his mental strength. But a day later, without regular caddy Ted Scott, who was attending his daughter’s high school graduation, on the bag, the adrenaline rush faded and the magnitude of what had passed him and he shot 1-over 73. Scheffler bounced back with a final round 65 but the damage was done and he settled for T-8.
The charges against Scheffler were eventually dropped and he later made light of them by picking Miami to beat Louisville on ESPN’s College GameDay. But it was one of the wildest stories at a major in some time and golf fans will always be wondering “what if” for Scheffler and her quest for the second major of the season if she doesn’t had not been derailed by his shocking arrest. . Scheffler in an orange jumpsuit has become a popular Halloween costume and his mugshot isn’t going away anytime soon. Scheffler has arguably had the best seasons since Tiger Woods’ peak in the early 2000s. More than the shots he hit to win his green jacket, Olympic gold medal and FedEx Cup trophy, the Hands down, the most memorable moment of 2024 occurred outside Valhalla Golf Club when Scheffler found himself handcuffed and imprisoned, leaving sports fans around the world clamoring. what just happened.
This article was originally published on Golfweek: scottie-scheffler-arrest-pga-championship-moment-of-the-year
