Xander Schauffele confirms changing their group chat picture to Scottie Scheffler's mugshot image - "Obviously that happened!"
Scottie Scheffler became the talk of the town when he got arrested ahead of the second day of the 2024 PGA Championship. While he was soon released and is now gearing up to play the Charles Schwab Challenge, he could not escape his group chat making fun of him.
The group chat reportedly comprises Xander Schauffele, Gary Woodland, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay, and Scottie Scheffler. Schauffele, who narrated the incident on the Pardon My Take podcast, said that the group was made because all the golfers share the same physiotherapist.
When one of the PMT hosts asked whether the group chat profile photo was changed to Scottie Scheffler's mugshot, Xander Schauffele laughed and said:
“Obviously, that happened. He handled it really well. In Scottie Scheffler fashion − he's a good dude. As soon as I saw it, I thought it was a prank and then I saw it on the news and was like: 'Holy smokes, this actually happened!' It feels like he's going to come out OK from all this, it feels like things are going to get dropped."
The World No. 1 golfer was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer.
Scottie Scheffler claimed he was arrested because of "a big misunderstanding"
Scottie Scheffler's arrest took place during the early hours of Saturday, May 18, as he was trying to reach the Valhalla Golf Course. Due to a fatal pedestrian crash right outside the venue, the road had been closed from both sides. However, Scheffler was found disrupting the traffic flow when he tried to enter Valhalla.
When Scheffler tried moving his car forward, he reportedly dragged a police officer along with him, causing injuries on the latter's wrist and leg. Scheffler was arrested and taken to the Louisville Metro Police Department. Officer Gillis claimed that Scheffler refused to comply with the rules.
Scheffler was released soon after and made it in time to tee off at the 2024 PGA Championship. Scheffler released a statement after the incident saying (via USA Today):
“This morning, I was proceeding as directed by police officers. It was a very chaotic situation, understandably so considering the tragic accident that had occurred earlier, and there was a big misunderstanding of what I thought I was being asked to do. I never intended to disregard any of the instructions. I’m hopeful to put this to the side and focus on golf today."
During the investigation of the incident, it came to light that the officer who arrested Scottie Scheffler did not turn on his bodycam, which left room for discrepancy. Scheffler's arraignment has been rescheduled to June 3.