LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After a pedestrian fatality outside the course hosting the PGA Championship, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was arrested by the Louisville Police Department on Friday for not following instructions during a traffic jam, ESPN reported.
The second round of the major was delayed by more than an hour at Valhalla Golf Club.
The PGA of America sent out an alert at 6:15 a.m. ET saying there was a “serious accident” near the course. Louisville PD issued a statement at about 5 a.m. saying it had responded to a call of a vehicle collision involving a pedestrian and a bus.
“Our preliminary investigation found that an adult male pedestrian was crossing Shelbyville Road south to north when he was struck by a shuttle bus that was traveling eastbound in the compulsory center lane dedicated for buses. As a result, the pedestrian received fatal injuries and was pronounced dead on the scene. The LMPD Traffic Unit is investigating,” the statement said.
Valhalla Golf Club is located about 25 minutes from downtown Louisville.
About 20 minutes after the PGA of America announcing play was delayed, ESPN reported Scheffler was detained by police due to a “misunderstanding with traffic flow.”
Via X (formerly Twitter), ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington said Scheffler, attempted to drive past a police officer into Valhalla and the officer “attached himself” to Scheffler’s car.
Scheffler stopped his vehicle – a clearly-labeled Lexus SUV courtesy car that all players received – at the entrance of the golf course before being “screamed” at by the police officer.
“Right now he’s going to jail. He’s going to jail. And there ain’t nothing you can do about it,” a police officer was seen saying in a video posted by Darlington.
Scheffler exited the car before being “shoved” by the police officer and immediately put into handcuffs, per ESPN, and detained in the back of a police car.
At about 7:45 a.m., the PGA of America announced the second round will begin at 8:35 a.m. with starting times delayed by one hour and 20 minutes.
Scheffler’s tee time was originally 8:48 a.m. and will now be 10:08 a.m. It hasn’t been confirmed if Scheffler will be able to make his tee time.
