Why world number 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested and handcuffed by police before the PGA Championship

World number 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested and handcuffed at dawn on Friday for trying to break through a police roadblock on his way to Valhalla Golf Course in Louisville where he was to tee off in the second round of the PGA Championship.

According to images posted on social networks and testimonies from journalists, Scheffler refused to stop at the request of a police officer who was regulating traffic near the golf club, where a fatal accident that occurred before his arrival had created a huge traffic jam. The 27-year-old champion had attracted the attention of the police officer when he climbed onto the sidewalk to overtake the cars stopped in front of him in order to enter the territory of the golf club.

In a video posted on X/Twitter by ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington, Scheffler can be seen handcuffed behind his back and taken to be placed in the back of a police car. In this footage, filmed before daybreak, police can be heard yelling at witnesses to back off, and an officer telling them: “Now he’s going to jail and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

According to local television station WAVE-TV and Golf DigestScheffler was formally charged with assaulting a police officer, committing a criminal act, dangerous driving and ignoring the commands of a traffic police officer.

A photo of the player in an orange inmate outfit was released by Louisville authorities. According to SiriusXM PGA Tour radio, Scheffler admitted the facts and was released early enough to hope to be at the start of the second round at 10:08 a.m. local time (2:08 p.m. GMT) as planned by the official schedule. He shares his game with two other major winners, Wyndham Clark (US Open 2023) and Brian Harman (British Open 2023).

PGA Championship second round delayed 80 minutes “due to the accident which occurred near the route and in which a pedestrian was killed by a bus”announced the PGA citing the police.

In the first round on Thursday, Scheffler returned a card of 67, four shots under par, which placed him in 12th position, five shots behind leader Xander Schauffele.

Scheffler, winner last month of his second Masters, had until then been the great story of the second major of the season, the first tournament he has played since he became the father last week of his first child, Bennett. Winner of four of the five tournaments he has played since the start of the season, Scheffler seemed set to continue his great story by making an eagle on his first hole on Thursday.