The PGA Championship at Valhalla in Louisville, KY wrapped up the second round Friday after a weather delay pushed tee times back later in the morning. This however, was not the main storyline of the round. The tournament’s prohibitive favorite, Scottie Scheffler, was detained in the wee hours of the morning after a strange encounter trying to enter the course.
Scheffler was arrested, booked, and processed on four charges, one felony and three misdemeanors, before being released and making it back to the tournament. The escapade did not phase Scottie, and after an additional delay that had Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, and Brian Harman tee off later than usual, the two-time major champion shot a -5 (66). As the golf and sports world reacts to this episode, it’s good to reflect on incidents between the world’s top golfers and law enforcement that have happened before.
Scottie Scheffler: Tragedy at PGA Championships at Valhalla
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The impetus for this latest conflict between one of the world’s best golfers and law enforcement is a sad one. A man working the PGA Championship at Valhalla was struck and killed by a shuttle bus early Friday morning. In the aftermath, there was a backlog of fans, golfers, and staff trying to get into the event. With all of the commotion, Scottie Scheffler, driving himself in a PGA courtesy car, was trying to gain entry into the course when police redirected his car.
What happened after that has been widely speculated, with various outlets reporting different accounts of the situation. What resulted from the interaction was the 27-year-old Scheffler being escorted away from the scene in handcuffs and on his way to the Louisville Department of Corrections.
A confusing and startling event for the PGA community, this had overshadowed the golf on the course. There are two more rounds to be played at Valhalla Golf Club and with Scheffler still in contention, this storyline will loom large. This isn’t the first time a golfer has been detained under questionable circumstances, its happened many times before, including to Scheffler’s PGA competitor Tiger Woods.
Related: Scottie Scheffler Detained by Police at PGA Championship 2nd Round
Tiger’s Medication Saga
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In 2017, Tiger Woods was trying to come back from another back surgery when he was pulled over in Florida. The assumption by police at the time was that Woods was driving intoxicated. The reality that Woods had been mixing medications, supplements, and substances would come out later, but not before the public saw an alarming police cam video of the star during the stop, and his mug shot was made public.
Since then, Woods has returned to golf and won the Masters. The heartwarming victory helped to wash the bad image of the mug shot and set Woods on a new path in the world of golf on the back nine of his tour career.
Woods’ encounter with law enforcement was more headline-grabbing than Scheffler due to his place in the sport, but as the number one player in the world right now, the eyre of this situation is not at all insignificant. He and Woods weren’t the first top golfers to have problems either, for another situation that didn’t reach these levels of severity painted a more comical picture of golfers trying to get onto course grounds.
Related: Tiger Woods Says 1st Round ‘Wasn’t Very Good’ at Exciting PGA Championship
Nicklaus Goes Unrecognized at Augusta
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Jack Nicklaus is one of, if not the best golfers of all-time. His 18 major titles is a mark nobody has eclipsed yet, despite the legend retiring from professional golf decades ago. Six of the Golden Bear’s 18 majors were won at Augusta National, making him an obvious ambassador for the home of the Masters.
Back in 2016, Nicklaus was entering the course and was ushered in by police at the gate. Once in, Nicklaus still needed additional security clearance. This part of the process had been going on without incident for the entirety of Nicklaus’s adult life, but this time was different.
One of the security guards asked the 76-year-old Nicklaus for his badge. Somewhat puzzled, Jack fumbled around for his identification and showed it to the guard. This wasn’t the end of it. Still not recognizing Nicklaus, the guard said that he needed to scan it to ensure it was authentic; obviously, it’s a very exclusive location, and legendary golfers could be trying to scalp a free visit.
Still puzzled, Nicklaus gave the guard the badge and waited for clearance. Once the guard had the badge in his hand and saw the name on the card, his expression changed dramatically. Nicklaus eased up and jokingly said, “You don’t need to scan that do you?” The parties exchanged pleasantries and Nicklaus’s camp was off on their merry way, while the guard was certainly off to be mocked by everyone he encountered for the rest of his time at Augusta.
Moving Forward at the PGA Championship
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The Nicklaus example is more light-hearted, and with the benefit of hindsight, the Woods story is part of a great comeback saga. Golfers have problems like everyone else when they’re not playing 18, and they can even happen to the best golfers in the world (see John Daly). It’s unclear at this point where the Scottie Scheffler story will land on this list as the details and events of early Friday morning continue to come out.
The tale could be a referendum on police handling of VIP’s at events, or the clearance they enjoy and use in different ways. It could be a case of inexperience and chaos combining to produce something we as golf fans can look on more favorably with the passage of time. For now, the fans and media will focus on the incident as the rest of this tournament unfolds.
As far as the players are concerned, they’re not looking at Scheffler; they’re looking at Xander Schauffele, who holds the lead after 36 holes going into the weekend. And let us not forget that there was a victim in this story. One person died to start all of this commotion. It’s natural to look at this through the golf prism, and that is how it will be remembered. But for the time being, it’s good to think about this for all that it was, not just the mug shot, and that other situations of this degree didn’t turn out like this one.
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