Scottie Scheffler Releases Statement About 'Misunderstanding' That Led To His Arrest At PGA Championship
Scottie Scheffler has released a statement following his arrest and the felony charge he now faces ahead of Friday's second round of the PGA Championship.
Scheffler was put in handcuffs, detained in the back of a cop car, and eventually booked after reportedly driving past an officer instructing him to stop his vehicle near the entrance of the tournament venue.
Traffic was at a stand-still near the venue after a man was tragically struck and killed by a shuttle bus near an entrance to the golf course early Friday morning.
According to Scheffler, the situation that led to his arrest was a complete "misunderstanding."
"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," Scheffler said in a statement.
" 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."
Scheffler was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, which is a felony, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.
Despite being booked and charged, Scheffler was released shortly after the fact and was able to make it to his 10:08 AM ET tee time.
ESPN's Jeff Darlington witnessed the Scheffler incident take place, and broke down exactly what he saw during Friday's edition of SportsCenter.
"Scottie Scheffler tried to enter Valhalla Golf Club by a side media, to which point a police officer instructed him to stop," Darlington explained. "Scheffler attempted to continue to go, the police officer then attached himself to the side of Scheffler's car. Scheffler stopped the vehicle as he turned into Valhalla Golf Club at the entrance about 10-20 yards from where the police officer first told him to stop."
"At that point, the police officer instructed Scheffler to get out of the car. There was probably 20-30 seconds where Scheffler sat in the car and did not move. He rolled down the window, and when he did roll down the window, the police officer grabbed (Scheffler's) arm and started pulling at it," Darlington said describing the officer approaching Scheffler's car.
"I believe he reached inside, opened the car door, pulled Scheffler out, immediately placed him in handcuffs at which point Scottie Scheffler seeing me behind him said ‘can you help.’"
"The police officer instructed me to step back, I told them I was a member of the media. A police officer turned to me and said ‘there’s nothing you can do, Scottie Scheffler is going to jail.'"
The arresting officer was certainly serious given the fact that Scheffler did end up taking a visit to jail.