Scottie Scheffler, the number-one golfer in the world, was arrested in the early morning of May 17 after trying to drive into the entrance of Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky where this week’s PGA Championship is taking place. Traffic outside the golf course had apparently been stopped after a man was struck and killed by a shuttle bus around 5 a.m.
ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington, who was a witness to the arrest, posted on social media site X that Scheffler was detained by police and put in handcuffs after a “misunderstanding” with traffic flow that led him to try to drive past a police officer into the club. That’s when an officer attempted to “attach himself” to Scheffler’s car, leading to the world’s best golfer stopping his vehicle at the entrance gate.
From there, the cop began to “scream” at the 27-year-old to get out of his car. As soon as he exited, the officer shoved Scheffler against the car and immediately placed him in handcuffs, according to the 6:35 a.m. post from Darlington. A follow-up video posted by the reporter shows Scheffler being taken away in handcuffs by two officers who yell at Darlington to stand back. A third officer can be heard saying, “Right now, he’s going to jail. He’s going to jail, and there ain’t nothing you can do about it. Period.”
Now, Scheffler is facing charges of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signs from an officer directing traffic, according to ESPN. The assault charge is a felony, and all of the others are misdemeanors.
He was released at 8:40 a.m. and made his way back to Valhalla, and it looks like he’ll be playing today. Golf Digest posted on social media around 9:40 a.m. that Scheffler was indeed on at the course.
Here’s more of what Darlington saw this morning and told ESPN:
According to ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington, who witnessed the incident, Scheffler was trying to drive around the crash scene on a median. A police officer instructed Scheffler to stop, but Scheffler continued to drive about 10 to 20 yards toward the entrance.
At one point, an officer attached himself to the side of Scheffler’s car. Scheffler stopped his car as he turned into the entrance of Valhalla Golf Club.
After about 20 to 30 seconds, Scheffler rolled down his window to talk to the officer. The officer grabbed Scheffler’s arm to pull him out of the vehicle, according to Darlington. The officer reached inside the vehicle to open the door, and once Scheffler was pulled out, he was pushed against the car and placed in handcuffs.
If you aren’t into golf, it may be a bit hard to grasp just how good Scheffler is at the sport. He’s won four of his fast five starts, including winning his second major at the Masters just last month. It would be similar to someone like Patrick Mahomes being arrested before a football game or Max Verstappen being arrested before an F1 race. It’s bonkers.