AUSTIN, Texas — By the time the final pick of ESPN’s College GameDay was made on Saturday, there was little drama remaining. Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 golfer in the world, was certain to pick the top-ranked Texas football team in Saturday’s showdown between his alma mater and the Georgia Bulldogs, a game that former Austin American-Statesman reporter Brian Davis has called the “biggest game in Royal-Memorial Stadium history.”
But earlier in the show, Scheffler did drop a surprise: Making a comical remark about how much he loves the fans in a certain city.
“Yeah, not to bring anything person to this with Louisville, a great city, love the people,” Scheffler said while the other panelist laughed. “But I think Miami’s going to smoke this.”
Of course, Scheffler was referring to the incident in which he was arrested by police after a traffic misunderstanding ahead of his second round at the 2024 PGA Championship. Scheffler was booked at 7:28 a.m ET, according to online records accessed by Golfweek. ESPN was first to report.
Scottie Scheffler – “Not to bring anything personal into this with Louisville, great city, love the people, but Miami is gonna smoke them” pic.twitter.com/ehp1lRPM8N
— Ways To Golf (@WaysToGolf) October 19, 2024
Scheffler faced four charges: Assault in the second degree of a police officer, criminal mischief in the third degree, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic.
The world’s No. 1-ranked golfer was later relieved of all charges. Scheffler was handcuffed and briefly jailed after a Louisville police officer claimed the golfer failed to stop his SUV when ordered to do so. The officer claimed he was dragged and injured by Scheffler’s vehicle.
As for his segment on ESPN,
“Like I say a lot on Tour, being No. 1 I still start even par score zero-zero, so hopefully the guys will show up ready to play tonight,” Scheffler said. “But it should be fun.”