The arrest of Scottie Scheffler was shocking. What followed was very important

The past 12 months have had it all – winning streaks, big new tournaments, big week arrests (!) and more. As 2025 approaches, our writers look back at the most memorable moments from 2024.

No. 15 – Charley Hull goes viral
No. 14 — LIV, LPGA CEO said goodbye
No. 13 – Solheim Cup parking fiasco
No. 12 – Phoenix Open chaos
No. 11 – Lydia Ko’s Hall of Fame resume
No. 10 – The PGA Tour-Saudi PIF merger is suspended
Number 9 – Keegan Bradley named Ryder Cup captain
No. 8 – Lexi Thompson left
No. 7 – Success of Xander Schauffele
No. 6 — AK’s return to golf
No. 5 – Reign of Nelly Korda
No. 4 – Bryson DeChambeau’s star turn
No. 3 – Scheffler’s strange season
No. 2 – Rory and Bryson’s US Open

No. 1: Arrest of Scottie Scheffler

There’s a reason why we couldn’t believe our eyes in mid-May, as a mugshot of Scottie Scheffler surfaced online on Friday morning of the PGA Championship. It’s not really that the World No. 1 was taken wearing an orange jumpsuit, or that his tee time was fast approaching. That was amazing this a certain person may end up in prison. No one could believe that.

The grounds of Valhalla Golf Club groaned in that shared disbelief, as fog delays added to the dreary morning. The attitude of the locker room was everything: If there were 156 players on the field, you would pick 155. the rest players to be in this position before Scheffler. He is without a doubt one of the gentlest people in all of pro golf.

So how did you get into that predicament? You may not even remember – the morning defined by the increased police presence due to the accidental death of an employee of the tournament, creating what Scheffler called a “crisis” – because in the following weeks, all charges were dropped.

An internal investigation from the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department reviewed limited but important video and audio of Scheffler’s actions that morning, and how he was ejected from the tournament gates. Scheffler was greatly helped by cell phone video taken by ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington, who woke up early to catch a morning TV game and found himself in the middle of the action.

At some point that weekend — probably between his second and third rounds — the gravity of what happened finally hit Scheffler. No matter how many jackets or medals or awards he won, his mugshot would be the most popular photo of the year.

Here at the end of 2024 – a year that featured nine victories from Scheffler, one of the best seasons in the history of pro golf – the thought of Scheffler’s arrest continues partly in jest. Many spectators have come to his events with that mugshot written on their chests. But since that exact moment was cemented forever in golf history, it’s worth remembering what happened afterward.

Perhaps surprisingly, Scheffler shot a five-under 66 in the second round. But after that, Scheffler spoke to his agent and his lawyer and gave a world-class press conference. He apologized for not being able to talk about specifics and was thoughtful enough to talk about the family of a PGA volunteer who was struck and killed early that morning. He was compassionate, grateful and forgiving. It was a whirlwind of a day, but he managed to sit behind the microphone without offense and called it “a big misunderstanding.”

Twelve days later – after testimony that the police department could not prosecute the charges – Scheffler spoke freely about the incident again. He called it a “painful” story that he doesn’t like to remember. He chose not to take legal action, believing that the tax dollars involved in such a case would cost the citizens of Louisville “the wrongs of their police department.”

“That doesn’t seem right,” Scheffler said, a lesson for all of us about revenge.

In the end, that’s what Scheffler’s arrest was – a series of lessons for those of us who follow the game very closely.

It was a small campaign of resilience, awareness and humility. It was an exercise in quick disbelief of all that the picture represented. In trust there is always a missing context behind the screenshot. It was an exercise in the role of enforcement, but also the importance of supervision. That day – and the investigation that followed – would have played out very differently if Darlington hadn’t woken up so early on ESPN. And it would have played out very differently if Scottie Scheffler hadn’t been Scottie Scheffler.