For Scottie, a warm-up in jail, a tie for fourth
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Words never expected to be heard from any golfer, much less the No. 1 ranked player in the world.
“I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell. That was a first for me,” said Scheffler. “That was part of my warm-up. I was just sitting there waiting and I started going through my warm-up, I felt like there was a chance I may be able to still come out here and play.”
Scottie Scheffler played Friday and quite well considering the circumstances. No, exceedingly well no matter the circumstances.
Two rounds into the 106th PGA Championship, a tournament that may be remembered for much more than the birdies and the bogies, Scheffler, having shot 66, is tied for fourth, three shots behind leader Xander Schauffele.
Large sporting events in general and golf tournaments, in particular, are settings for crossing roads and fairways, security people caught between order and chaos, misunderstandings and on occasion missteps.
As what happened Friday at Valhalla Golf Club where in the darkness of early morning a concession worker was killed dashing across a thoroughfare, when frantically trying to arrive for work on time, he was hit by a shuttle bus.
An accident. A traffic tie-up, Rain falling. Impatience growing. Police doing what they’re paid to do, keeping everybody safe. Touring pros unable to do what they’re paid to do, compete.
The word is Scheffler is cool-headed and respectful. A new father. But he couldn’t get around a traffic tie-up just before the entrance to Valhalla Golf Club so he steered his courtesy car, the one with the identifying painted on the side and front, PGA Championship, onto the center median.
Bryan Gillis is a long-time Louisville police detective. He’s usually on other types of assignments but he has worked the Kentucky Derby, where attendance is above 140,000 but the spectators are behind rails and the horses follow a jockey’s instructions.
When Scheffler headed for the practice tee, Gillis ordered Scheffler to stop and when Scheffler didn’t he then grabbed the side of the vehicle.
Gillis was dragged through the mud and was injured severely enough to need hospital treatment. Scheffler was sent to jail, where while he waited for release in a cell practiced his warm-up exercises.
Scheffler was charged with felony second-degree assault on a police officer, along with lesser charges of third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic, according to Jefferson County court records.
One of the Louisville politicians, worried that the arrest and jailing would be a large negative for Louisville, suggested the charges be dropped, which probably will happen.
What shouldn’t happen is how this all came to take place.
“I don't really know,” said a contrite Scheffler. “I feel like my head is still spinning. I can't really explain what happened this morning. I was sitting around and waiting. I started going through my routine and I tried to get my heart rate down as much as I could today, but like I said, I still feel like my head is spinning a little bit. But I was fortunate to be able to make it back out and play some golf today.”
Some very good golf, the type a No.1 ought to play. Golf that had people in a few hours selling T-shirts that read “Free Scottie.”