If it was a felony, it was a foolish one. If Scottie Scheffler “refused to comply” with police instructions, and ignored a signal to stop near the entrance to Valhalla Golf Club Friday morning, the world’s No. 1 player will fully deserve the wrist slap that will likely follow.
That he was handcuffed, driven downtown, had his mug shot made while wearing an orange jump suit and was briefly held behind bars before the second round of the PGA Championship would suggest either something more sinister or an outrageous overreaction.
Reconciling the conflicting accounts of Louisville Metro Police and the man who won the Masters last month will require locating a middle ground between two vastly different versions of what went down. The LMPD’s report says detective Bryan Gillis was “dragged to the ground” and injured by Scheffler’s allegedly reckless driving, prompting four criminal charges including second-degree assault on a police officer. Scheffler, meanwhile, characterized the incident as a “big misunderstanding.”
“I can’t comment on any specifics, but my situation will be handled,” Scheffler told reporters after recording a 5-under-par 66.
Count on nearly all concerned – the club, professional golf, Scheffler’s attorney and local politicians – to seek a resolution that imparts the least pain before or shortly after Tuesday’s 9 a.m. arraignment. But don’t count on them to fix the root problem anytime soon. Directing traffic to and from Valhalla is inherently difficult and was long before vendor John Mills was killed trying to cross Shelbyville Rd. prior to Scheffler’s arrival Friday morning.
The club’s main entrance along a busy stretch of roadway and the large crowds drawn to a major championship create a recurring set of challenges. Add rain, darkness and the heightened tensions following an earlier fatality near the same entrance and you have a formula for chaos.
Gridlocked en route to the course Friday morning, Austin Eckroat entrusted his wife with their courtesy car and walked the last mile and a half to the gate. Other players reported similar problems.
“I was probably starting to come into the club around 5:05 – 5:10 (a.m.), so I guess I got there right after all the police cars got there,” Harris English said. “I had no idea what was going on. I knew they weren’t letting anybody through from that side I was arriving from, so I had to turn around, go north of the course, took an extra 20 minutes or so, and then I got to turn into the club.”
Inconvenience is a predictable part of any major event, as any grown-up who has ridden a school bus to the Kentucky Derby can confirm. Volunteers working the PGA’s massive merchandise tent reported taking 90 minutes to reach their East End accommodations Thursday by way of a shuttle bus stop at the University of Louisville’s L&N Stadium.
Many spectators accept long delays as part of the price of admission to a big event. Contestants, however, do not typically pay that price.
“I feel like my head is still spinning,” Scheffler said after his round. “I can’t really explain what happened this morning. I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell. That was a first for me. That was part of my warmup. I was just sitting there waiting and I started going through my warmup, I felt like there was a chance I may be able to still come out here and play. I started going through my routine and I tried to get my heart rate down as much as I could today, but like I said, I still feel like my head is spinning a little bit. But I was fortunate to be able to make it back out and play some golf today.”
That he was released in time to return to Valhalla nearly an hour before his delayed tee time was seen by some in the legal community as an indication the charges reflected overreach. Both Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg issued statements expressing condolences for Mills’ family and their personal attention to Scheffler’s plight.
“I was shaking, I would say in shock and in fear,” Scheffler said. “Coming out here and trying to play today was definitely a challenge, but I did my best to control my mind, control my breathing, basically just calm down so I could come out here and try and play golf.
“I knew there (were) going to be a lot of distractions, but I didn’t really know what the reception would be like. To be honest with you, it was great having the fans behind me. They cheered for me really loud. I felt like they were really glad to have me out competing today, and it was a nice day to come out here and compete.”
It is a testament to Scheffler’s extraordinary talent that he was able to record a six-birdie round despite his brief incarceration and abbreviated warmup. A four-time winner in 10 starts this year, Scheffler’s recent dominance rivals anything the PGA Tour has seen since Tiger Woods was near his peak.
“His ball-striking, the amount of greens he hits, he just wears you out that way,” Woods said of Scheffler on Tuesday. “And then he has an amazing pair of hands around the greens. If he putts awful, then he finishes in the top 10. If he putts decent, he wins. He putts great, he runs away.”
Out of handcuffs, Scottie Scheffler is a handful.
This article appears in May 8-21, 2024.
