Rested — at least in terms of golf — and free of legal worries, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler said Tuesday he’s ready for The Memorial Tournament.
Scheffler took time off last week ahead of back-to-back challenges at The Memorial and the U.S. Open. He spent the week in Dallas at home with wife, Meredith, and their newborn son and didn’t get much of a chance to practice.
“I got some good rest at home last week. We had pretty bad weather in Dallas, so it wasn’t too great for golf, so I’m feeling pretty rested,” he said Tuesday in his pre-tournament news conference at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. “Came out hit some putts yesterday afternoon and greens are in great shape, and I’ll go out and play a few today and see how the course is playing.”
This will be Scheffler’s fourth appearance at Jack Nicklaus’ tournament, finishing third the past two years.
Scheffler also had a giant weight lifted off his shoulders. Last week, prosecutors in Louisville, Ky., dropped four charges in connection with the golfer’s arrest in the predawn hours on May 17 as he attempted to enter Valhalla Golf Club, site of the PGA Championship. Traffic had been stopped outside the course after a pedestrian was struck and killed by a shuttle bus.
Scheffler, 27, had been facing charges of felony second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic.
Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell said Wednesday his office would not pursue the case
“Mr. Scheffler’s characterization that this was a ‘big misunderstanding’ is corroborated by the evidence,” he said.
Scheffler said it isn’t easy to forget his world being thrown upside down by the arrest.
“It’s not something that I love reliving, just because it was fairly traumatic for me being arrested going into the golf course,” he reflected Tuesday.
“And so 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 kind of getting past it, if that makes sense. So kind of operating through that now. 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 mug shot, I’m sure is not going anywhere anytime soon.”
He said he wants to put the case behind him and had no interest in pursuing a lawsuit against police for wrongful arrest.
“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,” he said.
Scheffler didn’t play last week at the RBC Canadian Open, instead learning the secrets of first-time fatherhood with baby Bennett. And he said he got some sleep, with his wife handling the middle-of-the-night parenting duties.
“Right now, I’m still trying to learn how to burp him and change his diaper and stuff like that, so as far as the true parenting, I’m trying to just be the best support I can at home,” he said.
Scheffler also addressed the death of Grayson Murray, a two-time PGA Tour winner who died by suicide May 24.
“When we found out Grayson passed away last week, it was obviously a pretty big shock to all of us. It’s been a tough 10 days trying to process what transpired. I think your mind always goes to I think we all wish we could have done more for him, wish we could have done things differently. Your mind just kind of goes to what you could have done to prevent this from happening,” Scheffler said.
“Grayson, he was a sweet guy, he really was. He was fun to be around, he worked hard on and off the golf course.”
