Louisville officials have dropped all charges against Scottie Scheffler stemming from a traffic incident outside Valhalla Golf Club on May 17. The dismissal of charges comes with a stipulation that neither side will pursue any legal action against the other, and brings to a close one of the strangest incidents in a bizarre era for men’s golf.
Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell announced that all charges against Scheffler would be dropped during a Wednesday afternoon hearing. O’Connell indicated that the county agreed that Scheffler’s version of events did not rise to the level of criminal conduct, and the charges were dismissed with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled.
Scheffler, the World No. 1 player, was on his way to Valhalla for an early-morning tee time in the second round of the PGA Championship when he was stopped by police just outside the club’s gates. Traffic had been halted around the club because of a fatal traffic accident involving a pedestrian roughly an hour before, and the pre-dawn scene was a chaotic blur of rain and flashing lights. Players were permitted to enter the club, and Scheffler attempted to do so even after being stopped by an officer.
Video of the scene does not accurately capture what happened during the incident, because the officer, Det. Bryan Gillis, did not have his body cam turned on. Gillis claimed that Scheffler dragged him along the pavement, causing injury to Gillis and damage to his pants. Scheffler claimed that he stopped when told to, and accepted his arrest without significant protest.
Scheffler was booked and held briefly in jail before being released in time to make his tee time at Valhalla. He played well coming straight from jail, but struggled on Saturday and fell out of contention. Xander Schauffele went on to win the PGA Championship, having led or co-led wire to wire.
Scheffler’s arraignment was originally scheduled for the Tuesday after the tournament ended, but was postponed to June 3. Because Scheffler was charged with a felony, he would have needed to be present for any essential court proceeding, such as an arraignment.
Thanks to the dismissal, Scheffler is now free to leave this entire episode behind him. He lost out on the opportunity to win a grand slam, finishing eight strokes behind Schauffele, but given how well Schauffele was playing, it’s entirely possible Scheffler would have had difficulty keeping up even without the distraction of the Friday-morning incident.
Source Agencies
