In what will go down as one of the more unusual days in Major championship history, world no.1 Scottie Scheffler was released from jail just in time for his second-round tee time and fired a five-under-par 66 to sit just three shots off the lead held by Xander Schauffele at the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club.
As we reported earlier, Scheffler was arrested early on Friday morning after attempting to drive around a police cordon following a road closure after a fatal car crash took place close to the entrance of the club.
Unaware of the serious nature of the accident, in which a worker at the PGA Championship site sadly died after being hit by a van, Scheffler attempted to jump the queue of cars that had backed up on the closed road before being taken into custody by local police officers and subsequently charged with reckless driving and failing to follow the orders of a traffic officer.
After being taken to a police station in Louisville and charged with the offence, Scheffler was released and able to return to Valhalla, arriving just 50 minutes ahead of his second round tee time. All tee times were delayed by 80 minutes as the entrance to the club remained shut while the traffic accident was dealt with.
Scheffler later revealed that he had been left shaking in his prison cell while he waited to be charged and wondering whether he would be able to continue to play in the season’s second major.
“It was a chaotic situation and a big misunderstanding,” he said. “I was driving in this morning, trying to get to my warm-up time and I don’t really have an understanding what transpired.
“I made numerous apologies, but it was dark, it was raining, and they had just had an accident. I didn’t know what had happened at the time, but my heart goes out to the family. 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.”
He added: “My main focus after getting arrested was wondering if I could be able to come back and play, and fortunately I was able to do that,” he said. “I was never angry, just in shock and I was shaking the whole time. The officer that took me to the jail was very kind. We had a nice chat in the car, and that kind of helped calm me down.”
Given the circumstances, Scheffler’s 66 was seriously impressive, and put him right in contention to keep his grand slam dreams alive following his victory at last month’s Masters.
Three shots ahead of him is fellow American Xander Schauffele, who stayed at the top of the leaderboard after adding a three-under 68 to his opening 62, which saw his advantage cut to one shot at 12 under par.
In rainy conditions, with softened fairways and greens, two-time major champion Collin Morikawa led the pursuit with a 65 to reach 11 under, followed by Sahith Theegala, whose excellent 68 took him to 10 under. Scotland’s Bob MacIntyre reached nine under but finished with successive bogeys as he signed for a 69 and seven under total.
It was a disappointing day for Rory McIlroy, who had a double bogey in a 71 that saw him slip seven shots off the lead at -5, and needing a strong weekend if he is to end his 10-year major drought.
As the weather cleared up in the afternoon, scoring improved for most but not for Tiger Woods who hit two triple bogeys in three holes and will miss the cut on seven over par. The top 70 players plus ties will make the halfway cut, which, with 18 players needing to finish their second rounds on Saturday, looks set to eliminate all those who are not under par. That will include Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Aberg, who all finished on level par.