World’s No. 1 Golfer Unexpectedly Arrested Ahead of PGA Championship

Just before 6 a.m. on Friday morning, World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler was detained and later arrested by Louisville police outside of the Valhalla Golf Club ahead of the PGA Championship’s second day. ESPN’s Jeff Darlington witnessed the arrest, and broke the news on social media.

According to Darlington, Scheffler seemingly misunderstood the flow of traffic being diverted around a fatal bus crash that occurred earlier in the morning on the same stretch of road. Scheffler attempted to drive past a police officer into the golf club, at which point, the officer began banging on the 27-year-old’s window to get him to stop. When Scheffler kept driving, Darington reported: “the police officer attempted to attach himself to Scheffler’s car, and Scheffler then stopped his vehicle at the entrance to Valhalla.”

Darlington later provided further details on SportsCenter. “When [Scheffler] didn’t stop, the police officer attached himself to the vehicle, Scheffler then traveled another 10 yards before stopping the car. The police officer then grabbed at his arm, attempting to pull him out of the car before Scheffler eventually opened the door, at which point the police officer then pulled Scheffler out of the car, pushed him up against the car and immediately placed him in handcuffs."

He continued: “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.' He very clearly did not know what was happening in the situation—it moved very quickly, very rapidly, very aggressively.

“He was detained in that police vehicle for approximately 20 minutes," Darlington continued. "The police officers at that point did not understand that Scottie Scheffler was a golfer in the tournament nor, of course, that he is the No. 1 player in the world."

Here is video that I took of Scheffler being arrested: https://t.co/8UPZKvPCCf pic.twitter.com/9Tbp2tyrJh

— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) May 17, 2024

Darlington captured dramatic footage of the arrest, showing officers escorting Scheffler to a squad car as the journalist tried in vain to explain to officers that they were arresting the world’s top golfer. As he does, they scream at him to back up and leave the scene.

“Right now, he’s going to jail,” a cop told Darlington, “and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Scheffler, who was expected to tee off just before 9 a.m., was then driven to jail. He was booked into the Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections at 7:30 a.m.

“Glorified tax collectors on an absolute power trip this morning,” sports writer Tony Sartori wrote on X.

According to ESPN, Scheffler is facing a second-degree felony assault charge for dragging the police officer with his car, and misdemeanors charges of third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.