Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler requested an indictment Sunday at the PGA Championship after his worst round of the year, while officials confirmed there was no body camera video of his arrest Friday.
Scheffler stumbled on his first over-par round of the season, a two-over 73, at Valhalla on Saturday to sit at seven-under 206 for 54 holes, eight shots behind the lead.
The two-time Masters champion was scheduled to start early in the afternoon with his regular caddy Ted Scott, who missed Saturday’s round while attending his daughter’s high school graduation.
Scheffler arrived in Valhalla after a three-week layoff while his wife Meredith gave birth to their first child, a son named Bennett, born last week.
Before that, he was the hottest player in golf with four wins in his last five starts. He won at Bay Hill and the Players in March, lost in a playoff at the Houston Open, then won the Masters and Heritage titles last month.
Scheffler was arrested Friday morning at the entrance to Valhalla after trying to drive around a traffic jam while police were investigating an earlier fatal crash.
Louisville Metropolitan Police Department (LMPD) officers handcuffed Scheffler before arresting him for felony assault of a police officer, criminal mischief, reckless driving and failure to obey the signals of an officer directing traffic.
“We will plead not guilty,” said Scheffler’s attorney, Steve Romines.
He was taken to jail, booked and had a photo taken that quickly appeared on fans’ T-shirts during class. He was released in time to start the second round.
Scheffler, 27, faces between five and 10 years in prison on the felony charge alone.
Police said Scheffler’s vehicle accelerated and swept Officer Bryan Gillis so seriously that he suffered injuries to his left knee and wrist and was treated and released at a local hospital.
Romines said Scheffler “stopped immediately after being directed toward him and at no time did he assault an officer with his vehicle.”
“I can’t comment on any details,” Scheffler said Friday. “But my situation will be resolved. It was just a big misunderstanding.”
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said there was no body camera video of the arrest, but police had footage from a fixed camera in front of the entrance and that they would be released in the coming days.
“The officer did not have body camera footage turned on during the incident,” Greenberg said. “The matter is in the hands of our county attorney and I will let the legal matters play out.”
– ‘Big communication problem’ –
A reporter for the golf website No Laying Up posted on X Sunday that a source close to the Jefferson County district attorney’s office told him that prosecutors plan to drop charges against Scheffler early next week.
Scheffler is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.
Romines told The Golf Channel that the charges against Scheffler “will either be dropped or we will go to trial because Scottie didn’t do anything wrong.
“We’re not interested in any settlement negotiations or anything like that. It was just a big miscommunication.”
Scheffler told The Golf Channel that after shooting a 66 Friday following his arrest, the implications of his arrest and what followed hit him before the third round and he felt sore and tired as he suffered a double bogey and two bogeys in his first four holes on Saturday.
“I talked to my attorney on the phone to try to figure out what really happened,” Scheffler said. “I don’t think I understood until (Saturday) morning what really happened.”
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