Scottie Scheffler, the world’s best golfer, was handcuffed and put in the back of a police car about two hours before his scheduled start time for the second round at the PGA Championship, held at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.
Scheffler was arrested after trying to avoid a traffic detour created by police cars. Early Friday morning, a shuttle bus struck and killed a pedestrian outside Valhalla Golf Club, creating a heavy police presence around the club as golfers arrived for their rounds.
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The reigning Masters champion tried to drive past a police officer, who then tried to attach himself to the car, according to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, who witnessed the incident. Scheffler asked Darlington for his help, and the officer told Darlington, “Right now he’s going to jail and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
The second round was scheduled to begin at 7:15 a.m. ET, but the PGA of America announced that all tee times would be postponed by 80 minutes due to the pedestrian fatality. Scheffler was originally scheduled to tee off at 8:48 a.m. ET. Scheffler was a heavy favorite to win the PGA Championship prior to the event. Scheffler shot a 67 on Thursday and tied for 12th ahead of Friday’s round.
Scheffler has been the most dominant golfer in the world over the past two years with almost twice as many World Golf Ranking points as No. 2 Rory McIlroy. Scheffler has nine top 10 finishes in 10 events in 2024, including four wins and $18.7 million in prize money; Wyndham Clark is in second place with $9.2 million.
Scheffler finished in 27th place Sportico‘s look at the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes of 2023 at $53.2 million, including $19 million from endorsements. Its partners include Nike, TaylorMade, Rolex, Veritex, NetJets and Golf Forever.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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