GOLF star Michael Kim jumped to the defence of Scottie Scheffler after the World No1 was detained by police in Louisville, Kentucky.
Scheffler, 27, was put in handcuffs just hours before his tee time at the PGA Championship.
He allegedly failed to follow police orders after a pedestrian was fatally struck by a shuttle bus outside Valhalla Golf Club.
The Masters champion, who was due to tee off in the second round at 8:48am this morning, drove past a police officer in his car.
Two New York cops stabbed during celebrations in Times Square
Markings on the door of Scheffler's SUV indicated he was driving a PGA Championship vehicle.
The police officer reportedly screamed at the World No1 to stop, throwing himself on top of the vehicle.
ESPN claim Scheffler stopped driving around 10 metres later.
He was then pulled from the car, pushed up against the vehicle and handcuffed.
The police subsequently released a mugshot of the golf star before giving him permission to leave.
He arrived at Valhalla Golf Club shortly after.
Fellow PGA Tour pro Kim publicly defended Scheffler after he was detained.
He took to X to write: "I assume Scottie thought there was a small issue causing some traffic, and with a courtesy car, cops usually let us go thru ahead so weâre not caught up behind unnecessarily.
"Scottie was probably just thinking I need to get to the course to start my routine on time.
"Obviously with the circumstances, the cop was on edge and not letting anything go."
At least nine killed after New Year's Day stampede at shopping centre
He continued: "I will never drive around other cars in traffic driving into a golf tournament ever again⦠something Iâve done countless of times."
Kim later added: "I thought this was going to be the major with no asteriskâ¦"
Scheffler's tee time was pushed back to 10:08am following the police incident.