Scottie Scheffler warmed up for his second round at the US PGA Championship by "stretching in a jail cell" after being arrested on Friday morning.

The world number one was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer following an incident outside Valhalla Golf Club.

"My main focus after getting arrested was wondering if I could be able to come back out here and play, and fortunately I was able to do that," he said.

"I was never angry, just in shock and I was shaking the whole time. It was definitely a new feeling for me.

"The officer that took me to the jail was very kind. He was great. We had a nice chat in the car, that kind of helped calm me down."

After his release, Scheffler arrived at Valhalla Golf Club 54 minutes before his tee-time and went on to post a five-under 66 to improve his overall score to nine under.

He said his "heart goes out to the family" of a man struck and killed by a shuttle bus near the club on Friday morning. That incident led to the traffic jam that Scheffler was trying to avoid in an effort to get to the golf club for his morning tee-time.

According to a report filed by the Louisville Metro Police Department, the officer who attempted to prevent Scheffler from entering the club was dragged to the ground by his car and suffered "pain, swelling and abrasions" to his left wrist and knee.

It also states the officer’s uniform trousers were damaged beyond repair and that he was taken to hospital for evaluation.

The arrest came after Scheffler attempted to avoid the scene of the incident before being stopped.

"It was a chaotic situation and a big misunderstanding," he said. "It’ll get resolved fairly quickly I think. I was driving in this morning, trying to get to my warm-up time and I don’t really have an understanding what transpired.

"I did numerous apologies but it was dark, it was raining and they had just had an accident. I didn’t know what had happened at the time but my heart goes out to the family.

"At no point did I try to name drop myself to defuse the situation. I just tried to remain as calm as possible and just follow instructions."

Scheffler was handcuffed and taken to the Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections where his mugshot was taken.

"I feel like my head is still spinning," he said. "I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell – that was a first for me.

"There was a TV in the holding cell and I could see myself on it and in the corner it showed the time and they said [the start] was delayed. I was thinking about my tee time and whether I might be able to get out so I started going through my routine."

Scheffler went on to praise the police officers who had detained him and the fans who received him back on the course.

"I was pretty rattled but the officers were tremendous," he said. "A couple of them inside made some jokes when they figured out who I was and how I ended up there.

"I'm grateful that we have such strong police, and they're our protectors out there, and like I said, we just got into a chaotic situation this morning. That's really all it was.

"I felt like the fans were cheering extra loud for me. I know sometimes you can’t see it on my face but I really do enjoy playing in front of them. The support I’ve been getting has been tremendous and I’m really grateful for it."

Source: BBC

BDST: 1240 HRS, MAY 18, 2024
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