A mugshot of the No. 1 golfer in the world was released after he was booked into jail on multiple charges — including a felony — on Friday morning while trying to get into Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the second round of the PGA Championship.
Scottie Scheffler, who is coming off a victory at the Masters last month followed by the birth of his first child, was taken to jail by Louisville police reportedly after a traffic misunderstanding. The Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections confirmed on its website that Scheffler was booked into jail at 7:28 a.m.
He is charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic, according to a court document, The New York Times reported. The second-degree assault charge is a felony while the others are misdemeanors. Scheffler was released from jail at 8:40 a.m., according to ESPN.
Scheffler was initially scheduled to tee off at 8:48 a.m., but his tee time has been moved back to 10:08 a.m.
ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington, who said he witnessed the incident, reported that Scheffler attempted to drive on a median to get around the scene of the accident. A police officer reportedly told Scheffler to stop, but Scheffler allegedly continued to drive another 10 to 20 yards toward the Valhalla Golf Club entrance. The golfer then stopped his vehicle at the entrance of the golf club and was told by the officer to exit his car.
“When Scheffler exited the vehicle, the officer shoved Scheffler against the car and immediately placed him in handcuffs,” Darlington wrote. “He is now being detained in the back of a police car.”
Dozens of police cars were on the scene outside Valhalla Golf Club in response to the fatal accident involving a pedestrian, but that accident was unrelated to Scheffler’s arrest.
Scottie Scheffler’s mugshot from Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections. pic.twitter.com/bcJn54Nu5x
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) May 17, 2024
A video of the bizarre arrest was posted to X by Darlington and shows police taking a handcuffed Scheffler to a police car before driving away.
“Right now, he’s going to jail,” one officer told Darlington. “He’s going to jail, and there ain’t nothing you can do about it.”
Here is video that I took of Scheffler being arrested: https://t.co/8UPZKvPCCf pic.twitter.com/9Tbp2tyrJh
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) May 17, 2024
