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USA Today via Reuters

USA Today via Reuters

A mere “big misunderstanding” on the Friday morning of the 2024 PGA Championship ended up with Scottie Scheffler in jail. Even though he was behind bars for only an hour, he quickly became the talk of the town as four charges were pressed against him. Currently, Scheffler has been scheduled for an arraignment on June 3, postponed from May 21, as more evidence in the case has been disclosed as the days have passed.

Going back to that day, there were many PGA Tour and LIV Golf pros who witnessed the Scheffler and LMPD fiascos in Louisville. The FireBalls GC member, David Puig, recalled what he thought of the arrest and what his first reaction was in his recent appearance on LIV Golf’s Fairway to Heaven podcast. 

LIV Golf Pro thought Scottie Scheffler’s arrest was a joke

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Puig had an early tee time of 7:20, and unlike his usual LIV routine where he sleeps a little late, for the PGA Championship, he woke up at 4:30 a.m. As he headed to Valhalla, the fatal accident had just occurred. However, despite this, he could enter the golf course. As he finished his prep and was sitting in the dining hall, Puig remembered that Jon Rahm showed him the video of Scheffler’s detainment.

The first thought that came to Puig’s mind was, “There’s no way that’s going to be someone putting his [Scheffler’s] face there.” To his amazement, it was as true as the sky, and it was truly unbelievable to witness it. Puig then explained that he and all the other golfers had entered through the same gate that Scheffler was trying to get into. But maybe “he got unlucky.” The 22-year-old speculated that maybe Scheffler “did something that he wasn’t supposed to or the police guys intercepted in a different way.”

Puig believed that it was a prank just to stop Scheffler’s exemplary winning streak and the way he had been finishing at the top positions. Scheffler has been nothing less than stunning this season, with four wins to his name, one of which came at the season’s first major. Regardless, once he was out of jail, Puig was shocked by world #1’s persistence. He shot 5 under 66 the same day, which was unbelievable for the 22-year-old pro.

Since that unfortunate morning, Scheffler’s case has escalated a lot! Almost every day, new updates come, and the recent one shows that the 27-year-old might not have been the culprit.

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What’s new in Scottie Scheffler’s case?

After Scheffler was charged with assault, misdemeanor, felony, and violation, the police were in search of new evidence that would aid the case. Unfortunately, the officer who arrested Scheffler, Bryan Gillis, did not have his body cam on, which resulted in no video recording and coercive action taken against him for not following the LMPD uniform regulations.

Moreover, the LMPD released two hazy videos capturing the incident. One from the pole across the street and one from the police car’s black box. After the video, many in the golf world believed that Scheffler did not drag Officer Gillis with the car. An eyewitness, ESPN’s Bob Wischusen said that Officer Gillis “kind of jumped in front” of the car and rather “he tripped and fell,” while chasing it. Unlike the initial report, which suggested, that Scheffler didn’t follow the officer’s command and dragged him through the street.

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Louisville Mayor recently said, “Detective Gillis was counselled by his supervisor. We understand the seriousness of the failure to capture this interaction, which is why our officer has received corrective action for this policy violation.”  He further continued about the case,  “We are all looking to move forward. But we have to respect the legal process. And that’s what we are going to do. We are going to let that play out.”

This new evidence may help Scheffler and the charges of second-degree assault might get dropped. However, nothing can be confirmed and things will appear more transparent once Scottie Scheffler’s arraignment has been done.