Scheffler still not over ‘traumatic’ arrest

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler admits he still isn’t over his 'traumatic' PGA Championship arrest, despite all charges being dropped 12 days after the incident.

Scheffler was arrested in the predawn hours ahead of the second round of the Major Championship as he attempted to enter Valhalla Golf Club.

Traffic had been stopped outside the course after a pedestrian was struck and killed by a shuttle bus.

The 27-year-old was released in time to return to join the action at Valhalla, but only after being charged with four offences including the second-degree assault of a police officer - which is a felony.

All charges were later dropped after a prosecutor agreed with the Scheffler’s assessment that his arrest was a “big misunderstanding.”

"I would say that I still wouldn't have 100 per cent moved past it," Scheffler said ahead of this week’s Memorial Tournament.

"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.

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"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."

Suing the police

Footage of the incident seemed to back up Scheffler’s side to the story rather than Louisville police detective Bryan Gillis, who claimed he was dragged along by Scheffler’s car and had sustained injuries.

After the charges were dropped, it had been speculated that Scheffler may opt to sue the Louisville Metro Police Department, but he shot those rumours down as 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."