‘I was shaking for an hour’: World No.1 golfer Scheffler detained by police at PGA Championship

Masters champion Scottie Scheffler said he started his warm-up in a jail cell after blaming a “misunderstanding” for leading to him being detained in handcuffs and charged with a variety of offences hours before he was due to play in the US PGA Championship.

Louisville Metro Police charged world No.1 Scheffler with second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.

Stunning images show him handcuffed as he was led to a police car in the rain on Friday night (AEST). It is alleged he failed to follow police orders during a pedestrian fatality investigation. Scheffler was not involved in the fatal incident.

Scheffler had his mug shot taken in an orange jumpsuit and then returned to Valhalla Golf Club to play his second round.

Scheffler issued a statement through the PGA of America only minutes before walking to the 10th tee, his first hole of the day, claiming there was confusion with what he was being asked by police as he headed to the course in a courtesy car.

The mug shot of Scott Scheffler, provided by the Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections.Credit: AP

He later spoke to the media after his five-under 66, which has him three strokes behind leader Xander Schauffele.

Scheffler said he saw himself on television in a holding cell and even started warming up for his round behind bars, while offering condolences to the family of the man who was killed as he tried to make his way to the course to work for a vendor.

“I was just so confused at what was happening at the time [when trying to get to the course],” Scheffler said. “I didn’t know what time it was. I didn’t know what was going on. When I was sitting in the holding cell or whatever, there was a TV there and I could see myself on the TV, on ESPN.

“I was shaking the whole time. I was shaking for like an hour. I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell. That was the start of my warm-up.

“[But] I didn’t really have an understanding of what had transpired this morning. I was just sitting there in the back of the car, just listening to the police officer as he’s trying to figure out who I am, figure out my name.”

Scheffler was offered a sandwich by officers while in custody and said he ate it because he hadn’t had breakfast at the time.

ESPN aired footage of Scheffler handcuffed and walking towards a police car. Traffic was shut down for about a mile in both directions.

A shuttle bus had earlier struck and killed a pedestrian outside Valhalla. Police said the pedestrian was trying to cross the road when struck by the bus in a lane dedicated to vehicles entering the club. Police said the man died at the scene.

An image from the ESPN video shows Masters champion Scottie Scheffler being detained by police.Credit: ESPN

Scheffler is reported to have driven past an officer, who screamed at him to stop and then attached himself to the car until Scheffler stopped a short distance later. Once out of the car, Scheffler was put in handcuffs.

A video posted online by a journalist from ESPN shows one police officer leading Scheffler to a police car while another says to a camera: “Right now, he’s going to jail, he’s going to jail and there ain’t nothing you can do about it. Period.”

Jeff Darlington, an ESPN journalist who watched the incident unfold, said police pulled Scheffler out of the car, pushed him up against the vehicle and immediately placed him in handcuffs.

Scottie Scheffler arrives for the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club after being taken into custody by the Louisville police department.Credit: AP

“Scheffler was then walked over to the police car, placed in the back, in handcuffs, very stunned about what was happening, looked toward me as he was in those handcuffs and said, ‘Please help me,’” Darlington said.

“He very clearly did not know what was happening in the situation. It moved very quickly, very rapidly, very aggressively.”

Darlington said another police officer later approached with a notepad and asked if he knew the name of the person who had just been put in handcuffs.

A Louisville attorney, Steve Romines, was engaged to represent Scheffler and spoke to local reporters as the golfer returned to the PGA Championship. He said Scheffler would “co-operate fully” with authorities.

Scottie Scheffler and his caddie, Ted Scott, walk on the driving range at Valhalla Golf Club.Credit: Getty

“Apparently there had been a traffic accident or maybe even a fatality down the road and that had changed the traffic patterns, and he was unaware of that,” Romines said.

“The officer was then directing traffic, which was maybe not part of the event traffic detail. That’s where the miscommunication arose. He did exactly as he was instructed to do to enter the premises.

“We’ll just deal with the court system as it comes.”

The second round of the PGA Championship was already delayed by at least an hour because of rain. The PGA announced all tee times would also be affected by the accident.

Scheffler had been scheduled to tee off in his second round at 8.48am local time (9.48pm AEST), but didn’t hit his first shot until more than two hours later. He was only allowed about 30 minutes on the practice range before being required to tee off and made birdie on his first hole. One fan joked Scheffler “took a better mug shot than Tiger [Woods]” once he was on course.

Scottie Scheffler remained calm to shoot a second round 66 after the incident.Credit: Getty

“This morning we were devastated to learn that a worker with one of our vendors was tragically struck and killed by a shuttle bus outside Valhalla Golf Club,” the PGA of America said in a statement.

“This is heartbreaking to all of us involved with the PGA Championship. We extend our sincere condolences to their family and loved ones.”

Australian golfer Min Woo Lee took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to publish a post that simply said, “#FreeScottie”.

Scheffler, 27, drew comparisons to Woods after winning last month’s Masters at Augusta National as part of a stunning start to the year in which he has also claimed victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship. The deeply religious golfer said after his second green jacket that his “victory was secure on the cross”.

Scheffler, whose wife Meredith gave birth to their first child earlier this month, then won the RBC Heritage Classic the week after The Masters.

with AP

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