Scottie Scheffler ‘hoping to move past’ PGA Championship arrest and ‘traumatic’ major experience

Scottie Scheffler has admitted he is yet to fully put his arrest during the PGA Championship behind him, despite all charges being dropped.

Scheffler was detained ahead of his second round last month after he tried to drive into the course in heavy traffic which had been caused by an unrelated accident, in which a male pedestrian died.

The world No 1 was released in time to return to Valhalla and card a remarkable 66, but only after being charged with four offences including the second-degree assault of a police officer – which is a felony.

The charges were dropped 12 days later, with Scheffler finding out during the preceding week’s Charles Schwab Challenge – where he finished tied second – that was set to be the case.

“I would say that I still wouldn’t have 100 per cent moved past it,” Scheffler said ahead of the Memorial Tournament, live on Sky Sports. “Because now it’s almost more appropriate for people to ask me about the situation 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.

“It’s not something that I love talking about and it’s something that I’m hoping to move past, but when the charges are dropped, that’s kind of only the beginning of getting past it, if that makes sense.

“It was definitely a bit of a relief, but not total relief because that’s something that will always, I think, kind of stick with me. That mugshot I’m sure is not going anywhere any time soon.”

Why did Scheffler not sue the police?

Scheffler confirmed the assertion of his attorney, Steve Romines, that he had decided not to sue the Louisville Metro Police Department because it would be the city’s taxpayers who would ultimately “pay for whatever occurred”.

“I did not want to have to pursue legal action against Louisville because, at the end of the day, the people of Louisville are then going to have to pay for the mistakes of their police department and that just doesn’t seem right,” Scheffler said.

“So at no point did I ever want to sue them, but if it came there, I think my lawyer was more than prepared to use that as more of like a bargaining chip-type thing more than anything.

“I think sometimes in society people are expecting perfection out of everybody and just because somebody will make one mistake, people will crucify them for that and I’ve never really believed in that. I believe in forgiveness, I believe in grace and I try to give that out as much as possible because of how much grace I’ve been given.”

Majors on the mind for Scheffler?

Scheffler has finished third in his previous two appearances at Muirfield Village and will be chasing a sixth PGA Tour win of the season, with the world No 1 then set to be the pre-tournament favourite again the following week at the US Open.

“I’m always preparing for the next week and I’m trying to manage my practice to where I’m trying to get a little bit better each day, and I think the majors are always kind of earmarked in my head on the calendar,” Scheffler added.

“I try to block them out, but the majors are always in the back of my head. Whether we’re playing, practising, whatever we’re doing, I think our brains always kind of know exactly where they are.”

Watch the Memorial Tournament throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Early coverage begins on Thursday from 12.15pm via the red button on Sky Sports Golf, before moving to Sky Sports Golf from 5pm ahead of full coverage at 7pm.

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