World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler was detained in handcuffs by police after he tried to drive past a police officer into Valhalla Golf Club before the start of Friday’s second round of the 106th PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, ESPN reports.
Traffic outside the golf course had been stopped after a man was struck and killed by a shuttle bus around 5 a.m. ET.
According to ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington, who witnessed the incident, Scheffler was trying to drive around the crash scene on a median. A police officer instructed Scheffler to stop, but Scheffler continued to drive about 10 to 20 yards toward the entrance.
At one point, an officer attached himself to the side of Scheffler’s car. Scheffler stopped his car as he turned into the entrance of Valhalla Golf Club.
After about 20 to 30 seconds, Scheffler rolled down his window to talk to the officer. The officer grabbed Scheffler’s arm to pull him out of the vehicle, according to Darlington. The officer reached inside the vehicle to open the door, and once Scheffler was pulled out, he was pushed against the car and placed in handcuffs.
Darlington was standing at the entrance when Scheffler was detained. Darlington said Scheffler turned to him and asked, “Can you help?”
According to Darlington, an officer instructed him to back away.
“You need to get out of the way,” the officer told Darlington. “There’s nothing you can do. He’s going to jail.”
Scheffler, 27, had won four of his past five starts, including his second major championship at the Masters in April. He was scheduled to tee off at 10:08 a.m. ET.
The start of the second round was delayed after a shuttle bus struck and killed the pedestrian outside Valhalla Golf Club, a spokesperson for the Louisville Metro Police Department confirmed to ESPN.
The unidentified man was attempting to cross Shelbyville Road around 5 a.m. when he was struck in a dedicated lane for buses. Police said the man died at the scene.
Several police and first responders were still at the scene at 6:45 a.m. ET. Traffic had backed up on the roadway in dark and wet conditions, and shuttle buses bringing fans to the golf course had been stopped.
PGA of America officials said play will begin at 8:35 a.m. ET. The second round was scheduled to start at 7:15 a.m. ET.
Scheffler was the overwhelming favorite ahead of the season’s second major, seeking to go back-to-back following his Masters triumph last month.
After a stellar 2023 campaign that saw him retain the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year title, Scheffler this season has only consolidated his status as the dominant force in men’s golf. Just one week after a commanding victory at The Arnold Palmer Invitational, he mounted a stunning late charge to become the first player to ever defend The Players Championship.
Since then, the 27-year-old has looked borderline unstoppable, as victory at the RBC Heritage – just one week on from easing into his second green jacket at Augusta – made it four wins in five starts.
Scheffler last week stepped away from competitive action to be with wife Meredith as she gave birth to the couple’s first child, Bennett.
“Sitting at home with the girl I dated in high school with our child and then the Green Jacket sitting in the closet is a pretty insane feeling,” he said, “and I just wanted to be as thankful as possible.”
Following play Thursday in Louisville, Scheffler was looking ahead to trying to “clean up a few of the mistakes,” he said.
“I missed two putts I felt like I should have holed today, but that’s going to happen when the greens get a little chewed up,” he said. “I felt like there was a couple things I can clean up going into tomorrow, but overall today was a solid round.”
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