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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A day after Scottie Scheffler was arrested outside the gates of Valhalla Golf Club following a traffic incident, his drive to the course Saturday was uneventful.
But the world No. 1’s performance was far from normal in the third round of the PGA Championship.
After starting the round 3 strokes behind 36-hole leader Xander Schauffele, Scheffler posted a 2-over 73, his worst score in 266 days. With a 54-hole total of 7 under, Scheffler will start the final round 8 shots behind co-leaders Collin Morikawa and Schauffele. He is tied for 24th.
The score ended Scheffler’s streak of 42 consecutive rounds of par or better, which dated back to the third round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta on Aug. 26, 2023.
It was the second-longest streak in PGA Tour history. Tiger Woods had 52 consecutive rounds of par or better in 2000-01.
“I was definitely not feeling like myself today, for sure,” Scheffler said. “Yesterday happened, and I did my best to recover from it, and come out here and compete today. I did a great job yesterday of coming out and competing, riding the adrenaline.
“This morning was definitely not my usual routine for a round, if that makes sense. … I wasn’t able to get it done, which is pretty frustrating, but I’ll come back and try again tomorrow.”
Scheffler, who said his head was “spinning” after his arrest Friday, still seemed to be out of sorts a day later. He was arrested outside the gates of Valhalla during an incident with a Louisville police officer who was directing traffic following a fatal accident in which a man was struck and killed by a bus.
Scheffler faces charges of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic. The assault charge is a felony; the others are misdemeanors.
Scheffler was handcuffed at the scene and taken to a downtown detention center. He was booked and had his mug shot taken. He was released at 8:40 a.m. ET Friday without bail. He arrived at the course less than an hour before he was scheduled to tee off at 10:08 a.m. ET. He carded a 5-under 66.
Scheffler’s performance wasn’t nearly as good on Saturday. He was playing without his normal caddie, Ted Scott, who returned home to Louisiana to attend his daughter’s high school graduation. Scott is expected to be back at the course Sunday. Brad Payne, the PGA Tour’s chaplain, worked as Scheffler’s caddie Saturday.
On the second hole, Scheffler hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker and pulled his second shot into a penalty area. He had to chop his ball out of heavy rough. Then he skulled a chip shot over the green, leading to a double-bogey.
After making a three-putt bogey on the par-3 third, Scheffler made another bogey on the short par-4 fourth. His tee shot sailed over the green and into a hazard. After taking a penalty drop, he chunked a chip out of the rough. It was the first time in his PGA Tour career that he was 4 over after four holes.
According to Justin Ray, head of content for Twenty First Group, it was Scheffler’s first stretch of three consecutive bogeys or worse since he went bogey-bogey-double-bogey on holes 12 through 14 during the first round of the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee. He had played 2,470 official PGA Tour holes since then.