Kentucky incident
Stretching exercises in the cell: Scheffler’s chaotic golf day
Scottie Scheffler opened up about the incident with police after the second round of the PGA Championship. photo
© Matt York/AP
What a day of chaos for world number one Scottie Scheffler at the PGA Championship: short-term arrest, compassion and good golf in Kentucky.
Preparation for the second round of the PGA Championship began with stretching exercises in a prison cell in Louisville, Kentucky, for the currently best golfer in the world. “My head is still spinning,” admitted Scottie Scheffler as he tried to make sense of the events of a chaotic day at the press conference on Friday evening.
The 27-year-old from Texas was temporarily taken into custody early Friday morning before the start of the second round of the tournament. He should follow the instructions of the Police who were investigating a fatal traffic accident involving a pedestrian outside the Valhalla Golf Club failed to comply. Scheffler had tried to avoid a traffic jam with his car. He is said to have slightly injured a police officer’s wrist. The world number one was then handcuffed into a police car and taken to a police station. Scheffler was processed for identification – fingerprints were also taken and a police photo was taken.
Scheffler: “I was shaking all over my body”
Scheffler later explained at the press conference that the whole incident was a “chaotic situation” and that he never intended to disobey police orders. It was a “big misunderstanding”. He expressed his condolences to the accident victim’s relatives: “I can’t imagine what they’re going through. I feel for them.”
On the drive to the police station he was “totally shocked” and was shaking all over his body. “I spent some time in the prison cell doing stretching exercises. That was the first time for me,” said Scheffler. “I just sat there and waited and started my warmup. I felt like there was a chance I could still come out here and play. I started my routine and tried to get my heart rate down as much as possible. “
A few hours later, Scheffler was back at Valhalla Golf Club and started the second round. The brief arrest did not negatively impact his golf game. He finished the second day with a strong round of 66 and is tied for fourth place with 133 strokes. At halftime, the two-time Masters winner still has a good chance of winning his third triumph at a major tournament, just three shots behind leader Xander Schauffele (130).
Debacle for Tiger Woods
The sporting events took a back seat in view of the incident at the Valhalla Golf Club. After the second day, Schauffele leads ahead of his US compatriots Collin Morikawa (131) and Sahith Theegala (132). Scheffler shares fourth place with US pros Bryson DeChambeau and Mark Hubbard and Belgian Thomas Detry (all 133).
The German Martin Kaymer, who otherwise plays on the competitive LIV tour financed by Saudi Arabia, fell from 18th to 51st place after a round of 72 and a total of 140 strokes. Munich native Stephan Jäger (141) is in 67th place. 48-year-old superstar Tiger Woods had a disastrous day on the golf course. The 15-time major champion from California only played a round of 77 and was eliminated early with a total of 149 strokes.