World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested and charged Friday morning after allegedly failing to follow police orders as he was entering Valhalla Golf Course in Louisville, Kentucky, for the second round of the PGA Championship. Scheffler, the reigning Masters champion, released a statement expressing his confusion over the situation and stating that he never intended to disregard any instructions.
World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested and charged Friday morning after allegedly failing to follow police orders as he was entering Valhalla Golf Course in Louisville, Kentucky, for the second round of the PGA Championship.
Scheffler, the reigning Masters champion, released a statement expressing his confusion over the situation and stating that he never intended to disregard any instructions.
According to ESPN, Scheffler drove past a police officer in his SUV with markings on the door indicating it was a PGA Championship vehicle. The officer screamed at him to stop and then attached himself to the car until Scheffler stopped his vehicle about 10 yards later.
ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington characterized it as a "misunderstanding with traffic flow" as authorities were investigating a traffic fatality earlier in the morning.
"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 on ESPN’s "SportsCenter." "He very clearly did not know what was happening in the situation. It moved very quickly, very rapidly, very aggressively."
Darlington posted a video of the incident on his Twitter account.
"Right now, he’s going to jail," one officer at the scene told Darlington. "He’s going to jail and there ain’t nothing you can do about it."
Scheffler was booked into the Louisville Department of Corrections later Friday. He was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer (a felony), criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic.
A police report said a detective was knocked down after Scheffler refused "to comply and accelerated forward." The detective was allegedly dragged to the ground and suffered injuries to his wrist and knee.
Scheffler’s attorney, Steve Romines, released a statement regarding the incident.
"In the early hours of the morning in advance of his tee time Scottie was going to the course to begin his pre-round preparation," he said, via Sports Illustrated. "Due to the combination of event traffic and a traffic fatality in the area, it was a very chaotic situation. He was proceeding as directed by another traffic officer and driving a marked player’s vehicle with credentials visible. In the confusion, Scottie is alleged to have disregarded a different officer’s traffic signals resulting in these charges.
"Multiple eyewitnesses have confirmed that he did not do anything wrong but was simply proceeding as directed. He stopped immediately upon being directed to and never at any point assaulted any officer with his vehicle. We will litigate this matter as needed and he will be completely exonerated."
Scheffler was coming off of four victories in the last five tournaments, including a second Masters title. He was home in Dallas the last three weeks waiting for the birth of his first child, which occurred on May 8.
Xander Schauffele had the lead after the first round. He was 9-under par. Sahith Theegala, Tony Finau, and Mark Hubbard were tied for second place at 6-under par.
Scheffler, the No.1 golfer in the world, was tied for 12th at 4-under par.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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