“I trust him to rake a bunker more than my buddies.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Scottie Scheffler has a new caddie carrying his bag for the third round of the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club, and good reason for it.
Scheffler, who was arrested outside of the golf course after allegedly attempting to drive around traffic that resulted from a pedestrian fatality investigation early Friday morning, typically has veteran caddie Ted Scott on the bag. They’ve made an incredible partnership since joining forces in late 2021, including two wins at Augusta National. Scott isn’t sick, and his absence has nothing to do with Friday’s incident; Scott’s daughter is celebrating her high school graduation and he flew home to be with her.
“That’s something we talked about from the beginning of our relationship,” Scheffler said on Tuesday. “Family always comes first, and it’s the same thing for me as it is for my caddie. It was a pretty easy decision. He told me at the beginning of this year that was the date, so I got a backup caddie lined up. One of my buddies is going to carry the bag on Saturday, and then Ted will be back for Sunday’s round.”
That longtime friend is Brad Payne, who is a PGA Tour chaplain and played golf at Pepperdine University, and he will assume the caddie duties for Scheffler.
Scheffler was asked if Payne was one of his buddies who stayed with him during the Masters while Scheffler’s wife, Meredith, was back home in Dallas awaiting the birth of their first child. Scheffler smiled and said of Payne, “I trust him to rake a bunker more than my buddies.”
The Scheffler’s welcomed the arrival of their son, Bennett, on May 8.
Scheffler somehow managed to shoot 66 on Friday after being arrested on four charges, including reckless driving. But without his trusted caddie on Saturday, he’s struggled in the early going. He’s 4 over through his first four holes.
“The officer did not have body cam footage turned on during the incident,” Mayor Greenberg said on Saturday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said there isn’t any body camera footage of the incident involving Scottie Scheffler and Louisville Metropolitan Police Detective Bryan Gillis on Friday morning that led to the world No. 1’s arrest ahead of the second round of the 2024 PGA Championship.
“The officer did not have body cam footage turned on during the incident,” Greenberg said. “We will release footage that we have … to my knowledge, we have not yet discovered any video of the initial contact between Officer Gillis and Mr. Scheffler.”
Greenberg wasn’t certain whether Det. Gillis was wearing a body cam at the time of the incident, but did note that “fixed camera” footage from across the street will be released in the coming days. The mayor declined to comment on whether or not there have been discussions about dismissing any charges against Scheffler.
“Right now, the case is in the hands of our county attorney, and I will let the legal process play out,” said Greenberg.
Scheffler, 27, is facing the following four charges: Assault in the second degree of a police officer (a felony), criminal mischief in the third degree, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic. His arraignment has been scheduled for 9 a.m. ET on Tuesday, May 21.
Scheffler was booked at 7:28 a.m. ET, released from custody at 8:40 a.m. ET and arrived at Valhalla Golf Club at 9:15 a.m. ET. According to a PGA of America source on site, Scheffler was personally escorted to the club by an owner of Valhalla and made his 10:08 a.m. ET tee time by less than an hour. The two-time major champion then shot a 5-under 66 to move into T-4 on the leaderboard at 9 under.
The arrest citation, obtained by USA TODAY Sports, claimed that Det. Gillis was dressed in his full LMPD uniform and was wearing a reflective rain jacket when he stopped Scheffler and attempted to give him instructions. The report claims Scheffler “refused to comply and accelerated forward,” dragged Det. Gillis to the ground, injured him and damaged his uniform pants “beyond repair.” Det. Gillis was taken to the hospital for further treatment after he allegedly suffered pain, swelling and abrasions to his left wrist and knee.
The incident occurred after a man, John Mills of Crestwood, Kentucky, was involved in a fatal accident with a shuttle bus around 5 a.m. ET on the road that leads to Valhalla Golf Club. Mills was working security for this week’s championship.
Out of a field of 156 players, 78 have made the weekend cut at Valhalla Golf Club in the 106th playing of the PGA of America’s flagship event. The second round was delayed for an hour and 20 minutes after a fatal accident occurred near the club’s entrance early on Friday morning, which pushed the completion of the second round to Saturday morning.
A dense fog delayed the resumption of play on Saturday morning, which has now impacted the third-round tee times on Saturday. Players are once again going off in threesomes off Nos. 1 and 10 in order to fit the TV window.
A trio of California kids and the top three players on the leaderboard – Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala – will tee off at 1:40 p.m. ET, but there are a few other must-watch groups on the tee sheet.
Check out the tee times and groupings for the third round of the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla below.
Fog covered Valhalla Golf Club on Saturday morning, delaying play and forcing the PGA of America to alter third-round starting times.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Eighteen players were unable to complete their second round of the 2024 PGA Championship because play was halted due to darkness Friday night, and Saturday morning, they were forced to wait more because thick fog covered Valhalla Golf Club, making play impossible.
Play had been scheduled to resume at 7:15 Eastern Time, but the PGA of America announced there would be a delay shortly before that time. At 9:14 a.m., an announcement was made that the conclusion of the second round will resume at 9:40 a.m. and that players must be in position and ready to play at that time.
The third round of the PGA Championship will now start on split tees, with half the field beginning on the first tee and the other half starting on hole 10. Groups will also now be comprised of three players instead of two, with the expectation that the first groups will start the third round at 11:17 a.m. and the last groups will tee off at 1:40 p.m.
For that one week in 2000, they put on one of the greatest shows the game has ever seen.
Although he raised the Wanamaker Trophy at Valhalla Golf Club in 1996, the seed for the first and only major championship in the long and storied career of Mark Brooks came on the opposite side of the continent in a moment the Texan would just as soon forget.
After the third round of the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Brooks was hot, the University of Texas product using a 69 on Saturday to march up the leaderboard and trail leader Gil Morgan by just one heading into the final 18 holes of play.
Brooks had three PGA Tour victories under his belt at this point: the 1988 Canon Sammy Davis Jr.-Greater Hartford Open and a pair of wins in 1991 at the K-Mart Greater Greensboro Open and Greater Milwaukee Open. But aside from a top-5 finish at the 1990 U.S. Open at Medinah, he’d yet to get into serious contention at a major.
With the winds whipping like they often can on the Monterey Peninsula, Brooks folded in the final round, posting two double-bogeys on the front nine and finishing with an 84 that dropped him down the leaderboard. Fellow Texan Tom Kite navigated the blustery conditions and went on to win the title.
Brooks persevered after the devastation, and a lesson was learned. While major moments offer major rewards, it’s often just as important to relax and focus on the individual moments as it is to get caught up in the grandeur.
“That was my crash-and-burn majors experience,” Brooks said. “You realize it’s truly not life and death, right? It’s damn near it. But it’s truly not life and death. I think if you look back on a lot of guys, a lot of them went through something. The Watson meltdown at Carnoustie. You know, everybody probably had a meltdown somewhere.
“So I went in after that and made an assessment. Why did I break down? Most of the time it was because it had something to do with the way you were thinking. I didn’t adjust to the situation properly. They call them halftime adjustments, and when a guy doesn’t make the right halftime adjustments, you’re probably going to get your butt kicked. So that was all part of the learning process. And for me, that all came at Pebble Beach.”
The pain didn’t subside quickly. Brooks, now 63, admitted to feeling the gut punch after his final-round debacle for a lengthy stretch.
“It took several months. You’re doubting yourself. You don’t think you’re good enough,” Brooks said. “But I got to play with the winner, Tom Kite. So I watched it and it was interesting. He managed his ball really well. And, of course, his short game was phenomenal at that time. That’s when he was probably the best. And maybe for a period of time there he was the best at that.”
So armed with first-hand knowledge, when Brooks found himself in a similar situation four years later at the PGA Championship, running near the top of the leaderboard at Valhalla he had that experience to lean on. Of course, this year’s PGA Championship is at the same famous Louisville course.
In each of the first three rounds, Brooks was positioned just behind the leader. He was two shots behind Kentucky native Kenny Perry after the first round, sat in a tie for third behind Phil Mickelson and Justin Leonard after the second round and was in a tie for second with Vijay Singh after the third.
Mark Brooks, right, and Kenny Perry, left, shake hands after Brooks won the PGA Championship after a one-hole playoff at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., Sunday, Aug. 11, 1996.
Russ Cochran, another local product, was two strokes up heading into the final round after a scintillating 65 on Saturday. The left-handed Cochran seemed well-positioned for his second PGA Tour victory and first major win, especially in light of his familiarity with the environs. Although to get across the finish line, he’d have to contend with a constellation of stars within four shots of the lead, including Mickelson, Singh, Leonard, Steve Elkington, Greg Norman and Nick Price.
And Brooks, who with his Pebble experience far off in the rearview, now had the ability to stay in the moment, even when a tough field was fluctuating up and down the leaderboard.
Paired with Brooks in the final grouping, Cochran faded early in the round while the Texan charged, using birdies on Nos. 6, 7 and 8 to get to 12 under.
“It was pretty clear early on that Russ was going south and he wasn’t going to have a chance to contend,” Brooks said. “I’ll be honest, I don’t remember one shot he had. I don’t remember all of mine, either. It’s kind of interesting because a lot of people remember who they played with. I’m not being rude, but I don’t remember who I played with many times. If you ask me in all my wins who I played with the last round, I usually don’t have a clue.
“The inconsequential shots, I don’t really remember. There are cliches, you know, ‘One shot at a time.‘ Well, you really play golf a shot ahead. You’re always playing one shot ahead, but you’re actually then focusing on the shot in front of you — period. I got really good at that. I mean if you said, ‘What’s your strength?‘ That was my strength and I had to learn whatever you want to call it, mind tricks. I had to use processes to compartmentalize situations. And I was always doing stuff to shorten the time or make the task seem attainable.”
With one native out of the way, Brooks had to focus on Perry, who also was comfortable navigating the Kentucky bluegrass. Using five birdies in seven holes, Perry charged ahead while Brooks gave three strokes back in a four-hole stretch.
But Perry posted a bogey at the par-5 18th hole, although he still held the lead at 11 under with a host of players within striking distance. One by one, however, they fell to the side. Defending champ Elkington found the bunker on 18 and missed a 10-footer that would have put him in a playoff. Singh made bogey on the final hole and missed the playoff by two. Tommy Tolles also made a charge and had an eagle putt on 18 that would have evened him up with Perry, but missed.
That’s when Brooks kept it simple. Needing a birdie on the final hole to get into sudden death, he knew his best chance was to play to the fat part of the bunker in front of the 18th green.
“That was the play all week,” Brooks said. “I was hitting my 3-wood well at the time. And I knew if I caught it at 102 percent I could carry that front bunker, but there was a 90 percent chance I was going to hit into the bunker. I knew that was the shot and I was only thinking one shot ahead.”
Brooks plunked it in the sand, hit his wedge to a few feet and drained a putt to force bonus golf. Perry, meanwhile, had neglected to hit the range with the title on the line and by the time the playoff started, he was cold and at a disadvantage.
Perry famously hooked his ball through the fairway on the first playoff hole while Brooks averted danger and reached the green in two. After Perry got caught in the rough on both his second and third shots, Brooks knew the trophy was his.
He has never talked about the championship with Perry, but sympathizes with the former Western Kentucky University star, especially since the questionable decision to forego practice swings while on TV has long been considered the wrong one.
“It’s been interesting to watch Kenny’s interviews much later in life. Dang, dude. I feel bad for him,” Brooks said.
“The thing that’s interesting is a lot of this is as much about sacrifice as it is hard work. I was a bit of party boy, you know, until I was about 29. After that U.S. Open, I haven’t touched a drop of alcohol since then. There’s more sacrificing than there is work, in my opinion. Yes, it’s physically exerting, no doubt. You’re out there hitting like 500 balls a day. It’s exhausting but it’s not comparable to a lot of manual labor things, right?
“But then you accomplish something. You win a tournament like the PGA Championship. It’s something special.”
The television and streaming viewing experience starts early in the week.
The 2024 PGA Championship tournament rounds are May 16-19 but the television and the streaming viewing experience started Tuesday from Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
The 106th rendition is the fourth time the PGA has been staged there. Valhalla has also hosted the 2008 Ryder Cup and the 2004 and 2011 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championships.
It’s not a major without the multi-screen experience and CBS and ESPN are teaming up to spread coverage across their multiple TV and streaming platforms. CBS is airing the championship for the 34th consecutive year and 41st time overall. CBS is leading the overall production and will have in position 125 cameras and close to 150 microphones around the golf course including drones, bunker cams, flycams and more.
All times listed are ET.
Saturday, May 18
Updates of the conclusion of second round on SportsCenter, 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., ESPN
Featured groups and featured holes (Nos. 13, 14, 18), 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., ESPN+
Third round, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., ESPN+ (alternate telecast)
Woods is eight shots off the cut line and 19 behind the leader.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Tiger Woods is heading home early.
The 15-time major champion will miss the weekend cut at the 2024 PGA Championship after a lackluster 6-over 77 on Friday in the second round at Valhalla Golf Club that was doomed from the start. Woods walked off the course at 7 over for the tournament, eight shots off the cut.
“The week, it was a great week being here, being here at Valhalla, and unfortunately my scores did not indicate how the people treated me and how great a week I had,” Woods said after his round. “Unfortunately, I hit too many shots.”
This week’s major championship is being held in Kentucky but Woods took a brief visit to Los Angeles on his scorecard with his 7-4-7 stretch of triple-bogey-triple that derailed his round from the jump on Nos. 2-4.
“Well, I got off to bad start and the rough grabbed me at 2. No sand in the bunker as well. Just made a mistake there. I compounded the problem there at 4,” Woods explained after his round. “Just kept making mistakes and things you can’t do, not just in tournaments but in majors especially. And I just kept making them. I hung around for most of the day but unfortunately the damage was done early.”
He did well to fight back and earn some honor with a pair of birdies on Nos. 7 and 8, but gave those right back with consecutive squares thanks to bogeys on Nos. 11 and 12. Woods hopped on board the par train on Nos. 13-17 and made a consolation birdie at the last to seal the deal for his trunk-slam finish at 7 over par, eight shots off the cut and a whopping 19 off the lead.
The score is frustrating, but what will really irk Woods will be the fact that it wasn’t his body that gave up on him today. It was his game. He wasn’t limping. He wasn’t grimacing and constantly stretching throughout the round. He just wasn’t dialed with his approaches or short game. Simple as that.
Despite the poor showing, the 48-year-old Woods is still confident his game will continue to improve. In due course, that is.
“I just got to — I need to play more. Unfortunately, I just haven’t played a whole lot of tournaments, and not a whole lot of tournaments on my schedule either,” he said. “Hopefully everything will somehow come together in my practice sessions at home and be ready for Pinehurst.”
The next time we should expect to see Woods will be at the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, June 13-16. The warm summer temperature in the Sandhills of North Carolina should be like an incubator for Woods’ surgically repaired body that’s held together by pins and screws, and the course should give Tiger an advantage due to his ability to get creative with various shots. That said, his lack of tournament reps and performances so far this year shouldn’t give fans too high of expectations.
“I know I still have it in me, and that’s what’s exciting.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – One month after playing in the final group at the Masters and finishing third, Collin Morikawa is in contention again to win another major.
Morikawa, the 2020 PGA Championship winner, carded five consecutive birdies on his second nine to shoot 6-under 65 at Valhalla Golf Club on Friday and assume the clubhouse lead during the second round of the 106th PGA Championship.
“I’ve been putting great so far, since Augusta, so it’s nice to just kind of keep that trend going,” Morikawa said.
The 27-year-old former Cal Bear said he had a poor range session, including missing several drives to the right, and spent an extra few minutes before his tee time figuring it out.
“Kind of tweaked a little something in the setup, and it worked for the most part,” he said.
It worked to perfection for 17 holes until he chunked an 8-iron at No. 9, his final hole of the day, and made his lone bogey. Still, Morikawa was pleased to be near the top of the leaderboard at 11-under 131.
The PGA champ at TPC Harding Park also is the winner of the 2021 British Open, and won two majors in his first eight starts in majors. That level of early success heaped expectations that Morikawa would be a worldbeater for years to come. But after hoisting the Claret Jug, he endured a drought of more than two years before winning again at the Zozo Championship in Japan in October. That victory, his first after parting with longtime coach Rick Sessinghaus and hooking up with instructor Mark Blackburn, however, didn’t turn into a springboard to greater success. Morikawa called the start of his season “pretty flat,” and it led Morikawa to make another coaching change in March.
“I used to walk by a bunch of players on the range and wonder why they hit so many balls. That’s pretty much become me,” Morikawa told Golfweek after the Masters. “JJ [Jakovac, his caddie] asked me last week at the Valero (Texas Open) if I’ve ever hit the ball that bad, and I never have in my life. I can’t think of one moment in my life since I started golf… I thought I’ve seen lows but from a ballstriking standpoint that was a new low for me.”
Morikawa found something the week of the Masters and nearly earned his third major, if not for a couple of costly mistakes at Nos. 9 and 11 on Sunday that he blamed on being “too greedy.” He officially reunited with Sessinghaus earlier this month but said he has no regrets about the six-month break.
Collin Morikawa and his coach Rick Sessinghaus with the Wanamaker Trophy after the final round of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
“I thought we had exhausted all of our resources and all the things we tried and nothing was working,” Morikawa said.
He compared reuniting with Sessinghaus as like having an old friend back.
“There’s a sense of comfort,” he told Golfweek. “It’s hard to replace someone you’ve worked with for 18 years.”
Despite his lull in performance earlier this year, Morikawa said he never lost confidence in his abilities.
“I know I still have it in me, and that’s what’s exciting is that, after Augusta, it sucked to finish like that and it sucked to lose to Scottie, but at the end of the day, I knew I had three more majors coming up and to prep for that and get things as sharp as possible and just come out strong,” he said. “It’s obviously nice to get off to this start.”
“I was never angry, I was just in shock.” Scheffler said about the ordeal. Yet once the shock wore off and it was clear he’d be able to play on Friday, he had to begin his warm-up routine.
Oddly enough that meant he had to start stretching in a jail cell.
“I was pretty rattled to say the least. The officer that took me to the jail was very kind. We had a good chat on the way that helped me calm down.” pic.twitter.com/ZzzyGajh8w
Scottie Scheffler on if he ever told cops today…”Hey, I’m Scottie Scheffler.”
“No….it was chaotic and raining. No at no point did I name drop myself.”
— Garrett Johnston (@JohnstonGarrett) May 17, 2024
“I was pretty rattled to say the least,” Scheffler said. “The officer that took me to the jail was very kind. We had a good chat on the way that helped me calm down.”
Scheffler said he found himself sitting and shaking in the cell while watching a TV tuned to ESPN that was covering his arrest. Yet having a round to play actually helped him calm down and getting back into his routine kept his mind from racing. He also credited his team with helping settle down.
And they truly deserve the credit. Scheffler shot a 66, surged up the leaderboard and will have a chance to win another major this weekend.
