Scottie Scheffler Says 'Traumatic' Arrest Will Always Stick With Him, Jokes About His Mugshot

Scottie Scheffler may have had the handful of charges against him dropped and the legal side of things squashed, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he was put in handcuffs and thrown in the back of a cop car outside the gates of the PGA Championship. 

Speaking ahead of this week's Memorial Tournament, in what was his first formal press conference since his charges were dropped on May 29, Scheffler spoke candidly about his level of relief with how things have since played out in his favor.

Relieved, sure, but he made it clear that he may never completely move past what happened that Friday morning at Valhalla.

"I mean, no, I definitely hadn't moved past it," Scheffler said when asked if he had moved past the situation when finding out the charges against him would be dropped. "I would say that I still, you know, wouldn't have a hundred percent moved past it because, yeah, the charges are dropped, but I still -- now it's almost more appropriate for people to ask me about it and ask me about the situation and, to be honest with you, it's not something that I love reliving, just because it was fairly traumatic for me being arrested going into the golf course."

Scottie Scheffler posed for a mugshot after being arrested in Louisville during the PGA Championship.  (Photo by  Louisville Department of Corrections/Getty Images)

Scheffler is aware that being arrested will always be a part of his story, and he's not wrong. Despite the charges being dropped, people will always remember ‘that time Scottie Scheffler got arrested at the 2024 PGA Championship.’

The fact that his mugshot was released, and the internet never forgets, also plays a role in him never fully being able to move past the situation.

"It's not something that I love talking about and it's something that I'm hoping to move past, but when the charges are dropped, that's kind of only the beginning of kind of getting past it, if that makes sense," Scheffler continued. "So kind of operating through that now. It was definitely a bit of a relief, but not total relief because that's something that will always, I think, kind of stick with me. That mug shot, I'm sure is not going anywhere anytime soon."

Scheffler was originally charged with second-degree assault of a police officer (a felony), criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic.

All charges against him were dropped the same day that a video from an officer who spoke with Scheffler on the scene recorded his side of the story of what exactly took place outside an entrance to Valhalla.

A question many were asking was whether Scheffler and his legal team would have pursued legal action against the Louisville Police Department if the case carried on. He explained that his lawyer, Steve Romines, was prepared to go down that avenue, but personally, he never hoped it would reach that point.

"For me personally, no. That was something that if we needed to use it, I think Steve was more than ready to use that, just because, like I said, there was a ton of evidence in our favor," Scheffler said. "There was eyewitnesses on the scene that corroborated my story and the video evidence, the police officer talking to me after. All the evidence pointed to exactly what my side of the story was, and so if we needed to, if it -- if I kind of became, like -- I don't really know how to describe it, but basically, if I had to show up in court, I think Steve was more than prepared to pursue legal action."

"But at the end of the day, I did not want to have to pursue legal action against Louisville because at the end of the day, the people of Louisville are then going to have to pay for the mistakes of their police department, and that just doesn't seem right. So at no point did I ever want to sue them, but if it came there, I think my lawyer was more than prepared to use that as more of like a bargaining chip-type thing more than anything."