Getty Image
Xander Schauffele landed his first major victory at Valhalla last weekend, locking up a PGA Championship win in Louisville. Unfortunately, his performance was somewhat overshadowed by an off-the-course incident involving world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
After having the spotlight stolen during the highlight of his professional golf career, Xander Schauffele got Scheffler back in epic fashion.
Schauffele finally got the major monkey off his back following a number of close calls in the past. Prior to his appearance in the 2024 PGA Championship, the American golfer had finished second in both The Masters and Open Championship while also holding a third-place finish at the US Open.
The 0-fer finally ended on Sunday when he wrapped up an incredible victory on the 18th green.
Battling Bryson DeChambeau throughout his final round, Schauffele sank a birdie putt on his last hole to secure the top spot on the leaderboard. A celebration soon followed.
Unfortunately, his -21 score wasn’t the top story of the weekend.
Scottie Scheffler’s bizarre arrest was the headline in Louisville.
Videos of the top-ranked golfer being cuffed and escorted to a police cruiser made the rounds early Friday morning. The arrest stemmed from a reported misunderstanding at a traffic stop.
A fatal accident involving PGA Championship shuttle led to an area near the Valhalla Golf Club being blocked off prior to the second round of play. Attempting to skirt past the scene and make his way to the course, Scheffler drove around, as had a number of previous competitors.
For some reason, his car was stopped, and a situation escalated.
Scheffler was detained and held in a cell before being able to make his way back to the club to tee off. He was slapped with a quartet of charges, including second-degree assault of a police officer.
Most expect those charges to be dropped, even if the interaction did result in a cop splitting his $80 pants.
The story continued throughout the weekend, even trickling into Monday morning with the mayor announcing that an investigation into the Louisville Metro PD would be opened due to a lack of body cam footage from the scene.
The result of the tournament took a backseat, but Schauffele got his revenge!
Xander Schauffele trolled Scottie Scheffler with his mugshot.
The golfers share a group message with a number of other stars, giving Schauffele the opportunity to get Scheffler back!
He broke it down on the Pardon My Take podcast this week.
“I [talked to him about the arrest],” Schauffele said. “He handled it in Scottie Scheffler fashion. He’s a good dude. As soon as I saw it, I thought it was a prank, then I saw it on the news, and I was like, ‘Holy smokes, this actually happened.’
“It feels like he’s going to come out okay from all of this. It feels like things are going to get dropped. I don’t know, but he took it like a champ.”
He then hit listeners with a funny jab.
“We have a group chat… with our crew. It’s like me, Gary, JT, Jordan, Scottie, Pat. We all share the same Physio, so the boys were heckling Scottie a little bit. Just enough.”
He followed up by saying that they’d changed the group chat photo to Scheffler’s mugshot.
Well done.
Schauffele noted the seriousness of the arrest, but it didn’t keep him from taking a lighthearted swipe. Hopefully, Scheffler is able to come out of it unscathed.