Scottie Scheffler reflects on strange but “hectic” week at Valhalla

Scheffler finished short of the PGA Championship title amid his weird week in Louisville as he reflected on his game.

Scottie Scheffler finished in the top 10 at the PGA Championship, despite the drama on Friday morning.

He fired off a 6-under 65 to sit at 13-under for the tournament. Scheffler opened with a bogey on the first but kept his scorecard clean the rest of the way. He ended up with seven birdies and came home in 31 strokes, making five of his seven pa-breakers on the back nine.

After his round, the top-ranked player in the world finally reflected on his crazy week in Kentucky.

“I’m not quite sure. I think ‘hectic’ would probably be a good description,” Scheffler said.

“Overall, I’m fairly tired, definitely a lot more tired than I have been finishing some other tournaments. But I’m proud of how we went out there and fought. I got off to a slow start, but I was able to give myself some good momentum. [Saturday] was quite frustrating and a bit of a different day, but overall proud of how I fought this week.”

The 2-time Masters winner began his tournament with a 4-under 67 and a 5-under 66. However, his caddy, Ted Scott, had to leave for his daughter’s graduation on Saturday.

Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

He shot his first over-par round since August of 2023 when he carded a 2-over 73 on Saturday. Scheffler looked human for the first time all season.

“I think I would attribute it mostly to a bad day,” Scheffler explained.

“Did I feel like myself? Absolutely not. Was my warm-up the way it usually is, and the distractions what 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. I’d say that I’ve gotten better throughout my career at leaving the off-course distractions at home and keeping a pretty quiet personal life, and this week, that was not the case. I had a bad day and was proud of how I came out here and bounced back today.”

Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

He refused to blame Friday’s arrest on his poor performance but still admitted that Saturday morning was when it all sunk in for him.

While it was not his typical week, he had plenty of support at Valhalla. The 10-time PGA Tour winner felt the love from the fans at Valhalla. They showed up with t-shirts with his mugshot on the front and chanted ‘Free Scottie’ throughout the week.

“I think they were cheering extra loud for me this week, and I got a lot of support from the players and caddies,” Scheffler said.

“A lot of people showing their support, a lot of players telling me how much they love me and stuff like that, and I’m grateful to have the community that we have out here and the support of the people inside the ropes.”

The arrest rocked the golf world, and while Scheffler came back and competed, it was a wild turn of events. Friday morning, Louisville Police arrested Scheffler, who attempted to navigate around traffic early in the morning.

A tragic accident that took someone’s life saw an uptick in the police force. Louisville Metro Police Officer Bryan Gillis told Scheffler to stop and then arrested him.

ESPN’s Jeff Darlington captured it all on camera outside the gates of Valhalla Golf Club.

As the week progressed, more information surfaced surrounding Scheffler’s Friday morning arrest. The latest came on Sunday morning when it appeared that Louisville prosecutors would likely drop the charges against Scheffler.

The 27-year-old plans on competing in next week’s Charles Schwab Classic, pending his legal hearing on Tuesday.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.