Following his arrest prior to the second round of the PGA Championship, Scottie Scheffler was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer and other offenses. Following his arrest, Scheffler has spoken out.
Scottie Scheffler made his first public remarks following a wild morning at the PGA Championship in Kentucky, when he was charged with assaulting a police officer.
The world champion was seen attempting to enter Valhalla Golf Club by avoiding traffic after a fatal accident outside the venue earlier in the morning. He was handcuffed and taken to a police station in downtown Louisville. Around five in the morning locally, a man who was scheduled to work at the tournament passed away after being hit by a shuttle bus.
An hour or so later, Scheffler was heading to the course when he was stopped by police for attempting to get around the traffic bottleneck, and as a result, he was placed in handcuffs. Since then, the 27-year-old has been accused of reckless driving, third-degree criminal mischief, second-degree assault of a police officer, and disobeying traffic-directing officers’ signals.
After being charged, Scheffler was freed from custody, and he arrived at Valhalla with less than an hour until his scheduled tee time of 3.08 pm BST.
“This morning, I was proceeding as directed by police officers,” Scheffler said to ESPN. Given the tragic accident that had occurred earlier, it was understandable that the situation was extremely chaotic, and I didn’t fully understand what I was being asked to do.
“I never meant to ignore any of the guidelines. I hope to set this aside and concentrate on playing golf today.
Naturally, the entire tournament team sends their sincere condolences to the family of the man who lost his life in the earlier accident this morning. It really does put things into perspective.
After shooting four under par in his opening round on Friday at Valhalla, Scheffler is tied for 12th place. He trails leader Xander Schauffele by five shots. When he eventually started his second round by walking to the tenth tee, the crowd greeted him like a hero.
The fatal accident caused an 80-minute delay in the start of round two. “This morning we were devastated to learn that a worker with one of our vendors was tragically struck and killed by a shuttle bus outside Valhalla Golf Club,” a PGA of America spokesman said.
“Everyone connected to the PGA Championship is devastated by this. We send our deepest sympathies to their loved ones and family.
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