Scottie Scheffler to have PGA Championship assault charges dropped, per report
Scottie Scheffler faces four separate charges from his early Friday morning arrest at the PGA Championship.
Prosecutors in Louisville will likely drop the charges stemming from Scottie Scheffler’s arrest at the PGA Championship, according to Kevin Van Valkenburg.
Early Friday morning, as a steady rain fell before dawn, Scheffler attempted to enter Valhalla Golf Club in advance of his second-round tee time. But an unfortunate accident had occurred earlier that morning, leading to an increased police presence and a chaotic scene.
Thus, Scheffler, driving a PGA Championship player courtesy car, attempted to maneuver around the traffic, but Louisville Metro Police Officer Bryan Gillis told Scheffler to stop.
That is when Gillis instructed Scheffler to leave the vehicle. The officer then placed the top-ranked player in the world in handcuffs and led him away. Jeff Darlington of ESPN captured it all on video.
Scheffler went to jail and took a mugshot while wearing an orange jumpsuit. He then described how he stretched and loosened up in his jail cell while watching the scenes of his arrest unfold on ESPN from behind bars.
Here is video that I took of Scheffler being arrested: https://t.co/8UPZKvPCCf pic.twitter.com/9Tbp2tyrJh
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) May 17, 2024
Police then released Scheffler, who arrived back at Valhalla only 57 minutes before his scheduled tee time. He then went out and shot a 5-under 66, in what he called one of the “best rounds of his career.”
He also called this incident a “big misunderstanding,” as Scheffler only wanted to get to the course to warm up before his early tee time. But officers charged him with assaulting a police officer in the second degree—a penalty worth up to 10 years in prison, criminal mischief to the third degree, reckless driving, and disregarding signals from an officer.
The official police report also included the now famous detail, “Detective Gillis’ uniform pants, valued at approximately $80, were damaged beyond repair.”
Scheffler then struggled on the golf course Saturday, carding his first over-par round since last August. He admitted on CBS that it took a day for these bizarre turn of events to settle in, and who could blame him?
But it looks like Scheffler will be in the clear, although he does have an arraignment set for Tuesday at 9 a.m. ET. Yet, prosecutors could drop these charges before then.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.