After a chaotic morning that included an arrest and journey to the police station, Scottie Scheffler lastly teed off in Spherical 2 of the PGA.
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It may not be a stretch to say Friday on the PGA Championship was probably the most weird spherical of golf Scottie Scheffler has ever performed. Not essentially for what occurred on the course, however the chaos and confusion that unfolded earlier than he teed off at 10:08 a.m. native at Valhalla Golf Membership in Louisville, Ky.
Whereas most golf followers had been sleeping, Scheffler was being arrested following a chaotic scene outdoors the golf course. Round 5 a.m. Friday, a event vendor had been struck and killed by a shuttle bus whereas making an attempt to cross the highway. About an hour later, Scheffler arrived in backed-up site visitors, which was because of the investigation surrounding the dying however not helped by what was already a problematic spectator movement coming into and exiting the grounds.
In accordance with the police report, Scheffler drove into the outbound lane and tried to get across the site visitors however was stopped and given directions from a police officer. The report says Scheffler “refused to conform and accelerated ahead, dragging [the officer] to the bottom.” ESPN’s Jeff Darlington caught among the aftermath on video. Scheffler, in a assertion, later known as it a “very chaotic state of affairs,” including, “There was an enormous misunderstanding of what I assumed I used to be being requested to do. I by no means supposed to ignore any of the directions.”
Scheffler was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree felony mischief, reckless driving and disregarding site visitors alerts from an officer. Afterwards, Scheffler mentioned he couldn’t element what occurred that led to the arrest (though he once more known as it a “large misunderstanding”) however did element what it was like ready in a jail cell for a tee time.
He mentioned his physique was shaking and he was in shock and worry. He requested an officer to “hang around” with him so he might relax. He later noticed an image of himself on TV, which was tuned in to ESPN. When he was launched from police custody — he mentioned he did his pre-tournament stretching within the jail cell — he arrived on the course shortly after 9 a.m., barely an hour earlier than his tee time.
“I used to be by no means indignant,” he mentioned. “I used to be simply in shock, and I feel my physique was simply — I used to be shaking the entire time. I used to be shaking for like an hour. It was positively a brand new feeling for me.”
After Scottie Scheffler’s arrest, a busy 88 minutes — then a tee time
Tee occasions had been pushed again 80 minutes because of the deadly accident. Regardless of a rushed warmup and troublesome circumstances from earlier within the day, Scheffler was welcomed by a roar of assist from the gallery when he arrived to the tenth tee.
After which? He made birdie. After which made heaps extra. Scheffler shot a five-under 66 to get to 9 beneath for the event, which simply places him in rivalry for the weekend. (Collin Morikawa leads at 11 beneath, and the afternoon wave continues to be on the course.)
“I didn’t actually have an understanding of what had transpired this morning,” Scheffler mentioned. “My foremost focus after getting arrested was questioning if I might be capable of come again out right here and play, and luckily I used to be in a position to try this. It was good to place collectively a stable spherical right this moment.”
Beginning on the again 9, Scheffler hit a wedge to three ft on the par-5 tenth and made his birdie. He went bogey-birdie on the subsequent two earlier than making one other birdie on the 18th to show in two beneath. He added birdies on 2 and 4 to present him three in a five-hole stretch.
On the par-5 seventh, he missed the inexperienced means proper with this second shot, however he wedged on to 19 ft and made the putt to get to 9 beneath. He completed his day by getting up and down to save lots of par on the ninth gap.
Scheffler now has a weekend tee time, and he’s nonetheless seeking his fifth win in his final six begins — together with a second straight main title.
However after Friday morning, it’s unlikely that the golf would be the solely subject of dialog going ahead.
“I nonetheless really feel like my head is spinning somewhat bit,” Scheffler mentioned. “However I used to be lucky to have the ability to make it again out and play some golf right this moment.”
