PGA Championship: Will Zalatoris says group of players considered asking for postponement after death, Scottie Scheffler arrest
The surreal Scottie Scheffler situation overshadowing the golf during the second round of the PGA Championship had some of the players wondering if they should've been playing golf at all.
Will Zalatoris, a longtime friend of Scheffler, told reporters after the round Friday that a small group of players discussed not playing following the death of a pedestrian and Scheffler's arrest on a felony charge of assault on a police officer, per The Athletic.
The conversation reportedly lasted around 20 to 30 minutes and saw the players considering the idea of approaching the PGA about a postponement:
“Some of the guys were talking about, wondering if we should even play today,” Zalatoris said. “At one point there were a group of guys in the locker room talking about going to the PGA of America about it, but I think it was dead in the water in the locker room. It was bizarre. We just didn’t know … when Scottie was going to get out, any of the details.”
The hours before the second round were marred by the death of John Mills, a security guard who was struck by a bus outside of Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville. The aftermath saw major traffic issues, leading to a police officer attempting to stop Scheffler from entering the club and arresting him when the world No. 1 allegedly drove past him.
Scheffler later released a statement saying the incident was "a big misunderstanding," while his lawyer disputed the police's description of the events.
Those traffic issues impacted the other golfers as well, with Zalatoris opting to walk the last half-mile to Valhalla on foot alongside Cameron Young.
Meanwhile, we’re stuck in traffic trying to get it. Will Zalatoris and Cameron Young have opted to walk in. We’re half a mile from the entrance. https://t.co/5qPBhYN8xX pic.twitter.com/2YiPQNFQnl
— Brian Keogh (@IrishGolfDesk) May 17, 2024
Zalatoris said that, in hindsight, the tournament organizers should have delayed the start of Friday's round for four or five hours to address the fatality and traffic:
“The fatality happened, hey it was maybe let’s not try to rush this thing in. It happened right in front of the gates. Let’s push this back three to four hours or something and we can make it up on the weekend. When it happened with Scottie we were just all shell-shocked and didn’t know what to do or think or say,” Zalatoris said. “In 20/20 hindsight maybe a four- or five-hour delay just to let the (Louisville Metropolitan Police Department) do their business and let them handle everything that happened because a life was lost and let us come in as normal as possible, and unfortunately world No. 1 got arrested. This is the world of golf to a T right now. There’s no such thing as normality.”
The situation at least didn't appear to affect Scheffler once he teed off. After being taken downtown, booked into jail and quickly released, the 2024 Masters champion returned to the course and shot a 5-under 66 to move into a tie for fourth place on Friday.
Scheffler will enter the third round three strokes back from leader Xander Schauffele.
