The arrest of Scottie Scheffler, the world's No.1 golfer, has confused fans during the PGAChampionship in Louisville, Kentucky. Scheffler faces a felony charge for second-degree assault on a police officer, as well as lesser charges of reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals. The incident occurred when Scheffler attempted to drive around the scene of a fatal accident involving a pedestrian earlier that morning, which caused heavy traffic en route to the event.
Upon arriving at Valhalla Golf Club for his second round, Scheffer allegedly disregarded a police officer’s instructions, leading to him getting handcuffed and sent to jail. According to reports, Scheffler drove around the crash scene, was stopped by Detective Bryan Gillis, and continued to drive forward. The confusion comes in with the felony charges because, according to reporter Jeff Darlington, who was on the scene, he didn’t see any confrontation or Schefller raising his voice to the officer.
“The Police stopped Scheffler’s vehicle at the entrance of the vehicle. The officer then began to scream at Scheffler to get out of his car. When Scheffler exited the vehicle, the officer shoved Scheffler against the car and immediately placed him in handcuffs,” Darlington posted on X.”
Despite the arrest, Schefller was released from jail at 11 a.m. to participate in the tournament. He resumed play like nothing had happened and received applause from the crowd by birdying his first hole of the day. He moves from 12th to fourth place on day two of the tournament.
Scheffler has claimed that the incident was a misunderstanding, claiming that he followed what he believed to be police directions in a complicated situation. His attorney has stated that he will plead not guilty to the charges.
“He stopped immediately upon being directed to and never at any point assaulted any officer with his vehicle,” Scheffler’s attorney said in a statement on CNN. “We will plead not guilty and litigate this matter as needed.”
This unexpected development has fans thinking about what will happen to the Masters champion after the tournament, turning the spotlight on his legal troubles rather than his golf performance.
1. Colin Morikawa (-6) 65
2. Xander Schauffele (-1)
T3 Scottie Scheffler (-5) 66
T3 Thomas Detry (-4) 67
T3 Mark Hubbard (-3) 68
T6 Austin Eckroat (-4) 67
T6 Tony Finau (-2)
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