Scottie Scheffler contending regardless of PGA Championship arrest

Scottie Scheffler’s head stored spinning, and he couldn’t cease shaking after his early morning arrest on the PGA Championship.

And who might blame him? Scheffler solely needed to get to Valhalla upfront of his early morning tee time to heat up, get free, and put together for one more main championship spherical.

However officers had diverted site visitors in entrance of the membership’s entrance due to a tragic accident that took the lifetime of John Mills, a safety guard for the PGA of America.

Roughly an hour later, Scheffler, driving a courtesy automotive, tried to maneuver across the site visitors, not understanding what had transpired. Then he obtained caught up with the police. Between the early morning darkness and rain pouring down, confusion pervaded in every single place.

“My state of affairs will get dealt with. It was a chaotic state of affairs and an enormous misunderstanding,” Scheffler stated.

Picture by Brian Spurlock/Getty Photos

“However my sympathies exit to the household of Mr. Mills. I can’t think about what they’re going by way of this morning. At some point he’s heading to the golf course to look at a event. A couple of moments later, he’s attempting to cross the road, and now he’s not with us. I can’t think about what they’re going by way of. My coronary heart feels for them. I’m sorry.”

Scheffler alluded to this unlucky tragedy quite a few occasions all through his post-round press convention, saying his coronary heart feels for the household.

He additionally described how every part went down from his perspective, which included surreal anecdotes, reminiscent of stretching in a jail cell to watching himself get arrested on tv.

However at the back of his thoughts, he knew he nonetheless had an opportunity to play.

“I attempted to get my coronary heart charge down as a lot as I might immediately, however I nonetheless really feel like my head is spinning somewhat bit,” Scheffler stated.

Picture by Patrick Smith/Getty Photos

“However I used to be lucky to have the ability to make it again out and play some golf immediately.”

Scheffler arrived at Valhalla 57 minutes earlier than his tee time at 10:08 a.m. ET and had little time to heat up. However this didn’t have an effect on the world primary an excessive amount of, as a result of he went out and fired a 5-under 66.

He now sits in a tie for third at 9-under par for the championship, having gone from a jail cell to contending in a serious inside eight hours. That has definitely by no means occurred earlier than and can doubtless by no means transpire once more.

Scheffler started the day with a birdie at 10, a bogey at 11, after which poured in a protracted birdie at 12 to leap again to 5-under for the event. That rollercoaster begin served as a metaphor for a way Scheffler started his day—though a rollercoaster doesn’t adequately describe the scenes that performed out early Friday at Valhalla.

4 extra birdies adopted, together with a close to hole-out on the par-4 2nd, one of the vital difficult holes on the course.

However Scheffler, who has received 4 of his final 5 begins, had unimaginable help behind him as quickly as his spherical started. That helped restore order in his thoughts, as he went on to play fantastically at Valhalla.

“Popping out right here and attempting to play immediately was positively a problem, however I did my finest to manage my thoughts, management my respiration,” Scheffler added.

“Mainly simply relax so I might come out right here and try to play golf. I knew there have been going to be quite a lot of distractions, however I didn’t actually know what the reception can be like. To be trustworthy with you, it was nice having the followers behind me. They cheered for me actually loud. I felt like they had been actually glad to have me out competing immediately, and it was a pleasant day to come back out right here and compete.”

Scheffler, a person of religion and household who has great respect for each particular person he encounters, additionally tipped his cap to legislation enforcement, appreciating the job they do to maintain everybody secure. He additionally revealed that he didn’t clarify his identification to any officer. It isn’t like he’s the reigning Masters champion and one of the best golfer on the planet or something.

But, Scheffler nonetheless managed to shoot one of many “better of his profession” through the second spherical of the PGA Championship.

“I positively by no means imagined going to jail the morning earlier than considered one of my tee occasions for certain,” Scheffler added.

“However like I stated, I used to be grateful to have the ability to go on the market and compete, and yeah, it was positively a pleasant spherical of golf. However my coronary heart goes out to [Mills] and his household.”

Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Taking part in Via. Make sure to take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You’ll be able to observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as properly.