Who is Scottie Scheffler? What we know about world No. 1 golfer’s arrest at PGA Championship
Just hours before his tee time for the second round of the PGA Championship on Friday, world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested after an incident driving into Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.
Scheffler — one of the most well-known figures in the sport — returned to the course about two hours after his arrest Friday morning as stunned crowds followed his every move. He teed off at 10:08 a.m. ET.
Here’s what to know about Scheffler and the extraordinary sequence of events that unfolded Friday.
Follow live updates from the PGA Championship second round.
Who is Scottie Scheffler?
The 27-year-old golfer is currently the most dominant player on the PGA Tour. He’s won four PGA Tour events this year — the Arnold Palmer Invitational, The Players Championship, the Masters and, most recently, the RBC Heritage last month, when he became the first player to win four tournaments in a five-start stretch since Tiger Woods in 2007-08.
Scheffler has won two major championships, including the 2022 Masters, and this year became the first player in The Players Championship’s 50-year history to win in back-to-back years.
Scheffler, who turned pro in 2018 and joined the tour in 2020 after playing collegiately at the University of Texas, has 10 PGA Tour wins and 52 top-10 finishes.
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What led to Scheffler’s arrest?
A police officer arrested Scheffler before sunrise Friday, placing him in handcuffs after the golfer attempted to navigate a traffic backup caused by a crash that killed a pedestrian outside the course.
ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, who witnessed Scheffler’s arrest, tweeted a video of Scheffler in handcuffs being led into a police car, and said that Scheffler attempted to drive around the halted traffic when an officer told him to stop.
In an arrest report, the Louisville Police Department alleged Scheffler “refused to comply and accelerated forward,” and that detective Bryan Gillis was brought to the ground as a result. Gillis, per the report, suffered pain, swelling and abrasions to his left wrist and knee, and was transported to a hospital for medical treatment.
When Scheffler stopped the car, an officer opened the door to arrest him, Darlington reported. The arrest took place at 6:20 a.m. ET, the arrest report said.
Scheffler was booked in an orange jumpsuit in downtown Louisville. His newly hired local lawyer told reporters that Scheffler would comply with an investigation into his interaction with the officer directing traffic. Scheffler is facing charges of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.
His arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday at 9 a.m. ET, according to online court records.
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What has Scheffler said about the incident?
In a statement released through the PGA of America on Friday, Scheffler said he proceeded as directed by police officers through the traffic jam and called the incident a “misunderstanding.”
“It was a very chaotic situation, understandably so considering the tragic accident that had occurred earlier, and there was a big misunderstanding of what I thought I was being asked to do,” Scheffler said. “I never intended to disregard any of the instructions. I’m hopeful to put this to the side and focus on golf today.
“Of course, all of us involved in the tournament express our deepest sympathies to the family of the man who passed away in the earlier accident this morning. It truly puts everything in perspective.”
What was the timeline of events?
Scheffler was booked at 7:28 a.m. ET. He arrived back at Valhalla at 9:12 a.m. in a black SUV. He stepped out of the backseat and immediately entered the clubhouse, with less an hour until his tee time, and was soon on the driving range warming up.
Scheffler proceeded to tee off at 10:08 a.m., an hour and 20 minutes after his originally scheduled tee time. All tee times were delayed because of the fatal crash, which stopped numerous golfers and fans from arriving at the tournament as expected.
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(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
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Alex Andrejev is a staff editor on the news team. Before joining The Athletic, she covered NASCAR and Charlotte FC for The Charlotte Observer and was a reporting intern on the sports desk for The Washington Post. She grew up near Washington, D.C.
Who is Scottie Scheffler? What we know about world No. 1 golfer’s arrest at PGA Championship
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