.
Scottie Scheffler has lifted the lid and explained what happened during his dramatic arrest before the second round of the PGA Championship in the early hours of Friday morning. The World No.1 was arrested on his way to the course at Valhalla, with stunning images showing him handcuffed as he was taken to jail for not following police orders after a pedestrian fatality.
Louisville Metro Police Department said Scheffler was booked on four charges, including second-degree assault of a police officer after his vehicle dragged an officer to the ground and injured him. Scheffler was also hit with charges of third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.
Scottie Scheffler was brilliant in the second round despite his earlier arrest, while Tiger Woods missed the cut. Image: Getty/ESPN
The American released a statement saying the incident was a “big misunderstanding”, and later said he was shocked and confused over the arrest. After being released from jail he went on to shoot a five-under par round of 67 amid cheers and support from the galleries.
“It was a chaotic situation and a big misunderstanding. I can’t get into what transpired, outside of my heart goes out to the family,” Scheffler said after his round, offering his sympathy to the family of a tournament vendor John Mills – the pedestrian who had died in the accident. “I can’t imagine what they’re going through this morning.”
Police said Mills had been struck by a bus while crossing the road in a lane that was dedicated to tournament traffic. He was pronounced dead at the scene about 5:09am.
Scottie Scheffler is seen in a police booking photo after being arrested.
Scottie Scheffler acknowledges fans wearing t-shirts with his face on them.
Scheffler, who was originally slated to start his second round at 8:48am, drove past a police officer around 6am in his SUV with markings on the door indicating it was a PGA Championship vehicle. According to ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington, the officer screamed at Scheffler to stop and then grabbed onto the car until the golfer stopped about 10 yards later.
The officer, identified in the arrest report as Detective Gillis, was dragged “to the ground” and suffered “pain, swelling, and abrasions to his left wrist” after the car “accelerated forward.” The arrest sheet said the officer was dressed in a high visibility reflective jacket when he stopped Scheffler’s car to give instructions. Detective Gillis was taken to hospital for his injuries.
Darlington said police pulled Scheffler out of the car, pushed him up against the car and immediately placed him in handcuffs. “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.”
Scottie Scheffler in action during the second round of the PGA Championship.
Scheffler later opened up on the drama, saying: “I was pretty rattled to say the least. The officer that took me to the jail was very kind. He was great. We had a nice chat in the car, that kind of helped calm me down.
“I was never angry. I was shaking for like an hour, I would say in shock and in fear. Coming out here and trying to play today was definitely a challenge, but I did my best to control my mind, control my breathing.
“When I was sitting in like the holding cell or whatever, there was a TV there and I could see myself on ESPN. The officers downstairs, they were discussing how long it was going to take me to get released.”
Scheffler, seeking his fifth win in six starts, managed to get to nine-under after a stunning second round and hot on the heels of leader Collin Morikawa (66). Min Woo Lee and Jason Day made big moves to revive Australia’s hopes, but Tiger Woods missed the cut
