In what will go down as one of the strangest days in Major tournament history, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was released from prison during his second round and fired a five-under-par 66 to stay three. shot past the lead held by Xander Schauffele at the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club.
As we previously reported, Scheffler was arrested early Friday morning after trying to drive past a police cordon following a road closure following a fatal car accident near the club's entrance.
Unaware of the serious nature of the accident, where an employee at the PGA Championship was tragically killed after being hit by a pickup truck, Scheffler tried to jump the line of cars backing up the closed road before being taken into custody. the officers were also charged with careless driving and failure to follow the instructions of a traffic officer.
After being taken to the Louisville police station and charged, Scheffler was released and was able to return to Valhalla, arriving just 50 minutes before his second round time. All tee times have been delayed by 80 minutes as the entrance to the club remains closed while the road accident is dealt with.
Scheffler later revealed that he had been shaking in his cell while awaiting the arraignment and wondering if he would be able to continue playing in the second major of the season.
“It was chaos and a lot of misunderstanding,” he said. “I was driving in the morning, trying to get to my warm-up time and I don't understand what happened.
“I apologized many times but it was dark, raining and they had just been in danger. I didn't know what happened at the time, but my heart goes out to the family. At no point did I try to talk myself down to defuse the situation. I just tried to be as quiet as possible and just follow the instructions.”
He went on to say: “The thing I focused on after being arrested was wondering if I could come back to play, luckily I was able to do that,” he said. “I was never angry, just scared and shaking the whole time. The policeman who took me to the jail was very kind. We had a nice chat in the car, and that helped calm me down.”
Given the conditions, Scheffler's 66 was very impressive, and put him well in contention to keep his big dreams alive following his victory at the Masters last month.
Three shots ahead of him is fellow American Xander Schauffele, who remains atop the leaderboard after adding a three-under 68 to his opening 62, which took him one shot to 12 under par.
In rainy conditions, with soft fairways and greens, two-time major champion Collin Morikawa led the charge with a 65 to move to 11 under, followed by Sahith Theegala, whose superb 68 moved him to 10 under. Scotland's Bob MacIntyre reached nine under but finished with back-to-back bogeys as he posted a seven-under 69.
It was a disappointing day for Rory McIlroy, whose double-bogey 71 saw him rattle off a seven-shot 5-over lead, and he needs a strong weekend if he is to end his 10-year major drought.
As the weather cleared in the afternoon, the scores improved for many but not for Tiger Woods who hit two three bogeys in three holes and will miss the cut at 7 over par. The top 70 players and ties will form the scheme, which, with 18 players needing to complete their second rounds on Saturday, looks set to eliminate all of the unseeded. That would include Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludwig Aberg, all of whom finished tied.
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