While Xander Schauffele co-leads the major, Scheffler’s arrest on Day 2 made bigger news
The stage is set for today’s final round of the second major of the season, the historic 106th PGA Championship, at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
Several Storylines have unfolded – some highly unexpected
A – Scheffler’s bizarre arrest: Although Scheffler opened strongly with a 67, he was detained by Kentucky police just before he could reach Valhalla for his second round in a most bizarre incident caused by a traffic jam that resulted from a fatal accident involving a tournament shuttle bus and a pedestrian.
Scheffler was charged with assaulting a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic and was arrested, booked, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit but eventually released.
Luckily, tee times were pushed by a few hours due to the earlier accident which gave Scheffler ample time to return and tee off as per his scheduled time. He came back and shot a 66 but shot 73 in his third round and was tied-24th at 7-under 206 going into Sunday.
You can view his arrest video here –
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Scheffler also shared this statement after being released by the police –
“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.
Of course, all of us involved in the tournament express our deepest sympathies to the family of the man who passed away in the earlier accident this morning. It truly puts everything in perspective.”
B – Indian related challenge. Indian American Sahith Theegala could become the first player of Indian origin to win a major as he lies one behind the leaders going into the final round. Sahith who is currently 5th in the Fedex Rankings and was the US NCAA College Player of the Year at his final year at Pepperdine University in California is popular with US golf media and has plenty of fans given his humility and untutored swing. Akshay Bhatia who has already one victory on the PGA Tour this year has narrowly missed the even par cut line with a score of +1 after 36 holes.
Sahith Theegala with the magic touch!#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/jYu5dZcig0
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 18, 2024
C – Koepka stumbles in Rd 3 – One of the pre event favourites and defending champion Brooks Koepka shot 67-68 over the first 36-holes to be in contention but added a dismal 74 in his third round to drop down 35 spots to be at 47th position at 4-under 209, 11 behind the leaders.
D – Rory McIlroy – Coming off two consecutive wins in last two weeks and having won the PGA title at the same course in 2014, all eyes were on Rory. He had to contend with the fact that the PGA was his first tournament following his surprise divorce filing with wife Erica a few days earlier. McIlroy has an outside chance at 8-under 205 after carding rounds of 66-71-68 but needs a miracle, being 7 behind the leaders.
E – LIV Golfers continue to perform: Majors are the only opportunity for the fans to witness LIV golfers compete against PGA TOUR players. 11 of the 16 invited LIV players made the cut with Bryson de Chambeau in contention, only 2 behind the leaders after shooting 68-65-67 to be at 13-under 200.
RELATED: PGA of America’s shock invite for LIV star
LIV Players who have made the cut and their standings after 54 holes –
Bryson DeChambeau – T-4th (-13)
Dean Burmester – 9th (-11)
Lucas Herbert – T-16th (-9)
Cameron Smith – T-38th (-5)
Tyrrell Hatton – T-38th (-5)
Martin Kaymer – T-38th (-5)
Brooks Koepka – T-47th (-4)
Patrick Reed – T-54th (-3)
Joaquin Niemann – T-54th (-3)
Talor Gooch – T-60th (-2)
Dustin Johnson – T-69th (-1)
LIV Golfers who missed the cut –
Jon Rahm
Adrian Meronk
David Puig
Phil Mickelson (Winner – 2005, 2021)
Andy Ogletree
Last month at The Masters, 8 out of 13 LIV golfers made the cut, with three finishing inside the top-10 at Augusta. It will be interesting to see how they end up finishing and whether DeChambeau can take another major title.
Photo – NY Times