A stressful Friday morning turned into a free-wheeling second round for Scottie Scheffler at the 2024 PGA Championship. Following his morning arrest and subsequent release following a traffic incident, the world No. 1 raced back to Valhalla Golf Club to make his tee time and cement his place as a competitor for this championship.
Arriving at Valhalla with only one hour to go through his normally hours-long routine, Scheffler didn't miss a beat and ultimately carded an impressive 5-under 66 -- particularly given the circumstances. He stands at 9 under for the championship and high up on the first page of the leaderboard as the afternoon wave begins its effort at Valhalla Golf Club.
"It was just a huge misunderstanding this morning. That will get resolved fairly quickly," said Scheffler, explaining that he never considered not playing his second round. "I came here for a golf tournament. … My main focus after getting arrested was wondering if I could come back out here and play. Fortunately, I was able to do that. It was nice to put together a solid round today, for sure."
He continued: "I feel like my head is still spinning. I cannot 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 on the chance that maybe I could still come out here and play.
"So, I was going through my routine, and I tried to get my heart rate down as much as I could today. I still feel like my head is spinning, but I was fortunate to be able to make it out and play some golf today."
Unlike the day itself, Scheffler's round began in ideal fashion as he threw a dart into the par-5 10th to set up his first birdie of the round. Perhaps a lack of concentration led to a bogey on the next as Scheffler missed a short par effort racing his ball past the hole, never touching the cup on the way by.
"It probably took a few holes to feel normal," Scheffler admitted before explaining that he experienced physical and mental shock throughout his arrest. "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. It took a few holes to settle in. It was kind of nice to just be out there inside of the ropes competing. It's one of my favorite things in the world to do, so I was fortunate to be able to come out here and do it again today."
The two-time Masters champion immediately made amends with a birdie on No. 12 and then began to play the consistent quality golf we have grown accustomed to seeing from him over the last few years. Five straight pars and a nifty birdie on the par-5 18th put the finishing touches on Scheffler's first-nine 34 as he aimed to keep pace with the likes of Collin Morikawa and Mark Hubbard up ahead.
Scheffler's iron shot into the long par-4 2nd was reminiscent of his opening approach of the championship as Scheffler's ball landed just short of the pin, although this time, it did not fall for an eagle-2. Instead, it rolled out to 6 feet, and the towering Texan tapped it in to get deeper into red figures.
Scottie Scheffler almost just holed out again! #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/ZdbByGW51H
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 17, 2024
Scheffler tacked on another birdie two holes later thanks to a short approach which settled 3 feet from the pin on No. 4. Yet another birdie came courtesy of the par-5 7th making Scheffler perfect on the day on the par-5 scoring chances. That preceded two pars that put the finishing touch on his round.
After some early see-sawing, Scheffler settled in and played his final 16 holes in bogey-free 5-under fashion to shoot up the leaderboard. Scheffler's odd tournament will continue Saturday as he will play without his usual caddie, Ted Scott, in Round 3 as Scott attends his daughter's high school graduation. Even after his round, though, he was still shaking off the chaotic morning he experienced before play Friday.
"I was shaking almost in shock and in fear [during the arrest], and so, coming out to play today was definitely a challenge. I did my best to control my mind, control my breathing and basically just calm down so I could come out here and play golf," Scheffler explained. "I knew there was going to be a lot of distractions, but I didn't really know what the reception would be like. To be honest with you, it was great having the fans behind me. They cheered for me really loud. I felt like they were glad to have me out here competing today, and it was a nice day to come out here and compete."
As Scheffler has proven throughout this season -- whether dealing with an injury at the Players Championship, mentally managing his forthcoming fatherhood while winning the Masters, facing a potential major hangover at the RBC Heritage or now brushing off an arrest to push his way up the leaderboard at the PGA Championship -- the world No. 1 is somehow unaffected by whatever comes his way.
"As far as [whether this is among the] best rounds of my career? I would say it was pretty good," Scheffler said with a light laugh. "I definitely never imagined ever going to jail, and I never imagined going to jail before one of my tee times. I was grateful to be able to go out there and compete. It was a nice round of golf."
