A “very stunned” Scottie Scheffler uttered, “Please help me,” Friday morning when he was handcuffed and detained upon an attempt to enter Valhalla Golf Club before the second round of the PGA Championship.
In footage of the ordeal captured by ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, Scheffler — making his return to the circuit this week following the birth of his first child — could be seen in handcuffs while walking next to two police officers before looking back as Darlington filmed the ordeal and said, “Can you please help me?”
As Darlington kept back, an officer in a yellow jacket told the ESPN reporter, “Right now, he’s going to jail.”
Scheffler, 27, had initially attempted to maneuver around traffic caused by a fatal accident near the course.
A police officer began banging on the side of Scheffler’s car to get him to stop as he was pulling into the course.
Darlington, in an appearance on “SportsCenter” Friday morning, reported, “When he [Scheffler] didn’t stop, the police officer attached himself to the vehicle, Scheffler then traveled another 10 yards before stopping the car.”
“The police officer then grabbed at his arm, attempting to pull him out of the car before Scheffler eventually opened the door, at which point the police officer then pulled Scheffler out of the car, pushed him up against the car and immediately placed him in handcuffs,” Darlington said.
“Scheffler was then walked over to the police car, placed in the back in handcuffs. Very stunned about what was happening. Looked toward me as he was in those handcuffs and said, ‘Please help me.’ He very clearly did not know what was happening in the situation — it moved very quickly, very rapidly, very aggressively.”
Scheffler, who was detained around 5:45 a.m., was originally scheduled to tee off around 8:48 a.m.
Play was delayed over an hour due to the accident and traffic.
Scheffler was booked shortly before 7:30 a.m. on Friday, according to the Louisville Metropolitan Department of Corrections.
He has been charged with assault of a police officer, criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from office directing traffic.
Scheffler arrived back at Valhalla at 9:13 a.m. with his new tee time slated for just after 10 a.m.
He shot a 4-under 67 on Thursday.