Masters Tournament champion Scottie Scheffler was detained by police Friday morning while trying to drive into Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., where the PGA Championship is taking place this week.
Traffic around the area had been stopped for about a mile in both directions, and the only road leading into the golf club was filled with police after a man was hit and killed by a shuttle bus around 5 a.m.
Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, was attempting to drive around the crash scene on a median in the road. A police officer instructed him to stop, but Scheffler continued driving, according to ESPN, which had a reporter on the scene.
Scheffler, who was set to tee off just after 10 a.m., stopped his car as he turned into the club’s entrance. An officer attached himself to the side of the car while he was driving.
The pro golfer rolled down his window, and the officer grabbed Scheffler’s arm to pull him out of the car. The officer reached inside the car to open the door and placed handcuffs on Scheffler once he was outside the vehicle, ESPN reported.
“Scheffler was then walked over to the police car, placed in the back, in handcuffs, very stunned about what was happening, looked toward me as he was in those handcuffs and said, ‘Please help me,” ESPN’s Jeff Darlington said. “He very clearly did not know what was happening in the situation. It moved very quickly, very rapidly, very aggressively.”
Scheffler faces charges of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signal from an officer directing traffic, ESPN reported. The assault charge is a felony and the others are misdemeanors, the outlet said.
Darlington said he doesn’t think police knew who they arrested. One officer approached the reporter with a notepad and asked if he knew the name of the person they put in handcuffs, The Associated Press noted.
According to the Louisville Department of Corrections website, Scheffler has been released. The AP reported he's back at the course now, a couple of hours after the arrest.
Scheffler was released around 8:40 a.m. His attorney said it would be up to Scheffler if he plays today, ESPN reported.
The PGA Championship said online that the second round would be delayed due to the accident near the course.
Louisville Metro Police Department has not released much information about the man who died. Police told Louisville radio station WHAS the man was killed crossing the road because a bus driver didn’t see him. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Associated Press contributed.
Updated 9:27 a.m. EDT.
