Scottie Scheffler carded a final-round 65 to end week on 13 under; World No 1 was arrested by police ahead of second-round 66 and faces four charges, with hearing set for Tuesday; Scheffler was chasing back-to-back major victories
Sunday 19 May 2024 23:08, UK
Scottie Scheffler admitted he was unsure what was to come next off the course after signing off a ‘hectic’ week at the PGA Championship with a strong final round at Valhalla.
The pre-tournament favourite followed an opening-round 67 with a five-under 66 on Friday, despite being arrested just hours before his round for an incident he described as "a big misunderstanding" after "a very chaotic situation".
Scheffler's run of 42 PGA Tour rounds of par or better ended with a two-over 73 on Saturday, dropping him eight behind and all-but ending hopes of back-to-back major victories, only for him to make seven birdies in a 10-hole stretch of a final-round 65 to end the week on 13 under.
"I think 'hectic' would probably be a good description," Scheffler said after his round. "I'm fairly tired, definitely a lot more tired than I have been finishing some other tournaments.
"I'm proud of today how we went out there and fought. I got off to kind of a slow start and I was able to kind of get some momentum and post a good round.
"Yesterday obviously was quite frustrating and a bit of a different day, but overall proud of how I fought this week. Was fortunate to be out here competing, doing what I love."
Scheffler's mugshot quickly appearing on social media after he was detained and later released on Friday, with the 27-year-old only returning to the course less than an hour before his fog-delayed tee time.
"Free Scottie" shirts and chants were spotted around the course, with Scheffler's arrest making global news and putting a lot of attention on his performance during the second round and heading into the weekend.
Scheffler was without regular caddie Ted Scott for his third round due to pre-agreed arrangement, with PGA Tour chaplain Brad Payne taking over duties for the delay, although he was unsure whether the mental strain of the arrest or the absence of his regular looper caused his uncharacteristic third round.
"It's hard to tell," Scheffler admitted. "I think I would attribute it mostly to a bad day. I think when you come out here to compete, you're doing what you can throughout the course of the round to post a score and I wasn't able to get that done yesterday.
"Did I feel like myself? Absolutely not. Was my warm-up the way it usually is and the distractions the way they normally are? Absolutely not. But I'm not going to sit here and say that's why I went out and played a bad round of golf yesterday.
"I got arrested Friday morning and I showed up here and played a good round of golf, as well. So I've been good throughout my career or I'd say that I've gotten better throughout my career of leaving the off-course distractions at home and kind of keeping a pretty quiet personal life.
"I'm not going to sit here and say that I played poorly yesterday because of what happened on Friday. I just had a bad day out on the course and was proud of how I came out here and bounced back today."
Scheffler faces charges of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic, with an arraignment set for Tuesday at 9am ET [2pm BST].
His lawyer told the Golf Channel on Friday that they were prepared to go trial if the assault charge is not dropped, insisting the Masters champion "didn't do anything wrong," with Scheffler unsure whether we would be required to attend in person if it does go ahead.
Scheffler was hoping to head home on Sunday evening, returning to wife Meredith and new-born son Bennett, and currently keen to fulfil his commitment to feature on the PGA Tour at the Charles Schwab Challenge next week.
"As of now, I'm planning to play next week," Scheffler explained. "As far as the off-the-course stuff goes, I'm not really sure.
"I think it's all up in the air. I'm not really sure what the next days have in store. I think I'm able to get home tonight, but we'll see when I leave here. I haven't really had much chance to assess the situation off the course."
Watch Scheffler in action throughout 2024 on the PGA Tour live on Sky Sports. Early coverage of the Charles Schwab Challenge begins on Thursday from 5pm on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, majors and more with NOW.
