The world's top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffer said he was "pretty rattled" when he was arrested and handcuffed Friday morning in Kentucky but said he did some "stretching" in his cell before being released in time to tee off for the second round of the PGA Championship.
Scheffer, 27, a two-time Masters champion, was busted when he tried to drive around a police officer at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., following a fatal crash.
"I feel like my head is still spinning," Scheffler told reporters during a videotaped news conference after he shot a 5-under-par 66 to finish in fourth place.
"I can't really explain what happened this morning. I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell that was a first for me ... I was just sitting there waiting and I started going through my warmup. I felt like there was a chance I [could] still come out here and play," he said.
Scheffler said he so "rattled" by the arrest the heremembered "shaking ... in shock and fear" for about an hour before doing his warm-up routine in the jail cell.
The golfer was held by police for over two hours after being arrested around 6 a.m., and arrived at the golf club about 56 minutes before his tee time.
Police say Scheffler veered around an officer directing traffic outside Valhalla after a pedestrian was killed by a shuttle bus. According to a police incident report, a detective grabbing for his car was injured when he was dragged and pulled to the ground.
From the Scottie Scheffler police report: the arresting officer, Bryan Gillis, says that Scheffler disobeyed his orders and then dragged him to the ground with his car causing injuries to the officer and his clothing. pic.twitter.com/oh5eOT0ZuY
— Michael Eaves (@michaeleaves) May 17, 2024
Scheffler has been charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.
