05 June 2024 , 09:54
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Scottie Scheffler doesn't believe the mental scars of his traumatic arrest at the PGA Championship will fade any time soon.
The world's No. 1 golfer was detained outside of Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky on the morning of May 17, stunning the sporting world. The 27-year-old had been charged with third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic, alongside a second-degree assault charge.
However, late last month, the charges were dropped, confirming Scheffler wasn't aware of the incident that had occurred earlier in the morning, which saw a fan lose his life after being hit by a bus. Scheffler, who went on to finish T8 at Valhalla, says he doesn't love reliving the traumatic experience which could've landed him a maximum ten-year prison term if convicted.
“I definitely haven’t moved past it,” he said on Tuesday at the Memorial tournament. “I would say that I still haven’t a 100 per cent moved past it. Yeah, the charges are dropped, but it’s now almost more appropriate for people to ask me about it and to be honest with you, it’s not something that I love reliving, just because it was fairly traumatic for me being arrested going into the golf course.
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“And so it’s not something that I love talking about… It was definitely a bit of a relief [ the charges being dropped], but not total relief because that’s something that will always stick with me. That mugshot – I’m sure it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”
Scheffler also decided not to seek reparations and it wasn't even in consideration. "For me personally, no," he said. "That was something that if we needed to use it, I think Steve [Romines, his attorney] was more than ready to use.
“There was a ton of evidence in our favour. There were eyewitnesses on the scene that corroborated my story and the video evidence… All the evidence pointed to exactly what my side of the story was, and so if we needed to.
Scheffler's charges were dropped late last month (Getty)"Well, I don’t really know how to describe it, but basically, if I had to show up in court, I think Steve was more than prepared to pursue legal action.
"But at the end of the day, I did not want to have to because the people of Louisville were to have to pay for the mistakes of their police department. And that just doesn’t seem right.”
Scheffler's tee time tomorrow at the Memorial tournament, hosted by Muirfield Village Golf Club, is scheduled for 3.30pm. The total purse for the tournament is £15.6 million and Scheffler is among the favourites having won four tournaments this year.