Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 golfer in the world, was arrested early Friday morning following an incident with a police officer outside Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, ESPN’s Jeff Darlington is reporting.
According to Darlington, who witnessed the incident, Scheffler, 27, was detained by police and put into handcuffs after “a misunderstanding with traffic flow led to his attempt to drive past a police officer into Valhalla Golf Club.
Police report released
Update 10:41 a.m. EDT May 17: A police report on the incident has been released by Louisville police.
Police: Detective taken to the hospital after being dragged by Scheffler’s vehicle
Update 10:35 a.m. EDT May 17: The AP is reporting that the officer involved in the incident with Scheffler Friday morning has been taken to the hospital after being dragged by Scheffler’s vehicle.
Lawyer says it was miscommunication about traffic
Update 10:21 a.m. EDT May 17: Steve Romines, a lawyer representing Scheffler after his Friday morning arrest, spoke to the media moments after Scheffler left Louisville Metro Police Department.
“He was going into Valhalla to work out and get ready for his tee time. (Police) were directing traffic, he held his media credential out and was going in like they’ve been instructed to. Apparently, there had been a traffic accident, or maybe even a fatality down the road, and that had changed the traffic patterns, and he was unaware of that. And, I think the officer that was directing traffic, was maybe not part of the event traffic detail and so that’s where the communication, miscommunication arose and that’s why we’re here.”
Scheffler releases statement as he begins play
Update 10:04 a.m. EDT May 17: Scheffler released a statement Friday morning concerning the incident.
“This morning, I was proceeding as directed by police officers. It was a very chaotic situation, understandably so considering the tragic accident that had occurred earlier, and there was a big misunderstanding of what I thought I was being asked to do. I never intended to disregard any of the instructions. I’m hopeful to put this to the side and focus on golf today. Of course, all of us involved in the tournament express our deepest sympathies to the family of the man who passed away in the earlier accident this morning. It truly puts everything in perspective.”
He has begun play at Valhalla, the AP reported.
Scheffler has arrived at the driving range
Update 9:45 a.m. EDT May 17: Scottie Scheffler is on the driving range, starting his warmup, according to Yahoo Sports.
Scheffler back at the course
Update 9:23 a.m. EDT May 17: According to The Associated Press, Scheffler is now back at Valhalla Golf Club.
Scheffler released from custody
Update 9:08 a.m. EDT May 17: According to the Louisville Municipal Department of Corrections, Scheffler has been released from custody on his own recognizance.
It is not known if Scheffler will be playing in the tournament today. He must be on the tee and ready to play no later than five minutes past his tee time or be disqualified from play, according to United States Golf Association rules. However, the rules committee can decide that exceptional circumstances have prevented a player from starting on time and that player can be allowed to continue to play in the round.
Original story: Valhalla is hosting the PGA Championship this week.
The start of the second round of the tournament was delayed after a shuttle bus struck and killed a pedestrian outside the golf club around 5 a.m., a spokesperson for the Louisville Metro Police Department confirmed to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Darlington offered more details on ESPN.com, saying Scheffler was trying to drive around the crash scene on a median. The police officer instructed Scheffler to stop, but Scheffler continued to drive about 10 to 20 yards toward the entrance.
“The police officer attempted to attach himself to Scheffler’s car, and Scheffler then stopped his vehicle at the entrance to Valhalla. The police officer then began to scream at Scheffler to get out of the car. When Scheffler exited the vehicle, the officer shoved Scheffler against the car and immediately placed him in handcuffs. He is now being detained in the back of a police car, Darlington wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
As Scheffler was put in handcuffs and placed into the back of a police car a police officer told Darlington “There’s nothing you can do, he’s going to jail,” ESPN reported.
Scheffler was booked at the Louisville Municipal Department of Corrections at 7:28 a.m. on charges including second-degree assault on a police officer, which is a felony. He was also charged with reckless driving, third-degree criminal mischief and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic.
According to ESPN’s Dave Fleming, who also witnessed the incident, players were told they would be able to enter the facility, but Scheffler, driving an official PGA vehicle, turned into the gates when told not to. As the car continued to roll slowly through, an officer grabbed onto the car and Scheffler stopped and rolled down his window.
The officer then reached into the window, opened the door and pulled Scheffler out of the car.
Scheffler was due to tee off at Valhalla at 8:48 a.m. He finished the first day of the tournament tied for 12th, at -4.
According to PGA of America officials tee times for the second round will be delayed because of the traffic incident. Officials said the second round of the tournament will now start at 8:35 a.m. EDT. All start times throughout the day will be delayed by one hour and 20 minutes.
Scheffler won four of his last five events, including The Masters Tournament in April. He and his wife, Meredith, welcomed their first child, a son, on May 8.
Check back for more on this developing story.