After the second day at the PGA Championship 2024 got off to a turbulent start for Scottie Scheffler with his shocking arrest, the world number one was unfazed by the chaos and delivered a strong performance on the course. After an impressive round of 66, Scheffler went into the clubhouse in the interim T3 position (-9). After a birdie on his first hole, the Masters winner then made a bogey, but this was to be his only stroke loss of the day. Scheffler followed this up with five more birdies and starts the weekend in a great position. The new father has not yet fully come to terms with the completely surprising arrest: “I feel like my head is still spinning. I can’t really explain what happened this morning. I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell. That was a first for me. That was part of my warmup.”
Birdie on his first hole of the day. pic.twitter.com/i3lMqBGDqB
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 17, 2024
Scottie Scheffler on his second round of the PGA Championship 2024
THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us. Is there anything you’d like to say to start?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, first of all, my sympathies go out to the family of Mr. Mills. I can’t imagine what they’re going through this morning. One day he’s heading to the golf course to watch a tournament. A few moments later he’s trying to cross the street, and now he’s no longer with us. I can’t imagine what they’re going through. My heart — I feel for them. I’m sorry. My situation will get handled. It was a chaotic situation and a big misunderstanding. I can’t comment on any of the specifics of it, so I feel like y’all are going to be disappointed, but I can’t comment on any specifics, but my situation will be handled.
Q. How do you encapsulate everything that happened to you today?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I don’t really know. I feel like my head is still spinning. I can’t really explain what happened this morning. I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell. That was a first for me. That was part of my warmup. I was just sitting there waiting and I started going through my warmup, I felt like there was a chance I may be able to still come out here and play. I started going through my routine and I tried to get my heart rate down as much as I could today, but like I said, I still feel like my head is spinning a little bit. But I was fortunate to be able to make it back out and play some golf today.
I came here for a golf tournament. I was driving in this morning, trying to get to my warmup time and get ready for the round of golf. I didn’t really have an understanding of what had transpired this morning. My main focus after getting arrested was wondering if I could be able to come back out here and play, andfortunately I was able to do that. It was nice to put together a solid round today for sure.
Q. How long did it take before the golf felt normal, or did it feel normal at any point once you got out there?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: It probably took a few holes to feel normal. Obviously I didn’t have my normal warmup and I usually stick to my routine. I’m a big routine guy, especially when it comes to my preparation. But it took a few holes to settle in.
Q. We’ve come to know you as a pretty unflappable person out here, not affected by a lot of stuff. Can you describe how rattled you were when — you just referenced being in a jail cell and whatnot. Just describe that mindset and how surreal that was for you.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I was pretty rattled to say the least. The officer that took me to the jail was very kind. He was great. We had a nice chat in the car, that kind of helped calm me down. I was never angry. I was just in shock, and I was shaking the whole time. I was shaking for like an hour. It was definitely a new feeling for me. He came out and we had a nice chat and then the officers inside the jail were tremendous. A couple of them made some jokes I think when they figured out who I was and what happened and how I ended up there. I’m grateful that we have such strong police, and they’re our protectors out there, and like I said, we just got into a chaotic situation this morning. That’s really all it was.
Q. Did it ever cross your mind with the shaking stuff that voluntarily not playing today, maybe going home? Did it ever cross your mind?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Not really, no.
Q. Did you ever say to someone this morning, “I’m Scottie Scheffler”?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: No. When they got me out of the car — like I said, it was very chaotic, and I said, I’m sorry, I’m just trying to get to my tee time. Outside of that, things escalated from there. I did numerous apologies and whatever, but like I said, it was chaotic, it’s dark, it was raining, there’s a lot of stuff going on. They had just had an accident. I didn’t know what it happened at the time, other than there was an accident. I didn’t know that it was fatal. Like I said, my heart goes out to the family. But no, at no point did I try to name drop myself to defuse the situation. I just tried to remain as calm as possible and just follow instructions.
Q. On the detail, how long were you actually in the cell for, and in the context of everything else, where among the best rounds of your career would be a 66 after getting arrested?
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, I couldn’t tell you how long I was in there. As far as best rounds of my career, I would say it was pretty good. I definitely never imagined ever going to jail, and I definitely never imagined going to jail the morning before one of my tee times for sure. But yeah, like I said, I was grateful to be able to go out there and compete, and yeah, it was definitely a nice round of golf. My heart goes out to the family. But outside of that, yeah, I’m glad to be out here competing, doing what I love.