Scheffler able to laugh after arrest at PGA as he focuses on US Open

World number one Scottie Scheffler says he is fully focused on the US Open and picking up a sixth win of the season in Pinehurst, North Carolina, having put his arrest at the PGA Championship behind him.

Since March Scheffler has played eight events and won five, including the Masters. On two other occasions he was runner-up.

His worst result in that red hot patch was a tie for eighth at the PGA Championship in Louisville three weeks ago.

He still threatened to win the major even after he was arrested before the second round over a traffic stop involving a police officer at the entrance to the Valhalla Golf Club.

Scheffler was charged on May 17 with four counts, including felony second-degree assault on a police officer. The charges were later dropped.

Like so much else in his life the laid back American has taken everything in his stride, never losing his focus or good nature.

Scheffler said he does not like reliving the incident but also had a chuckle over a viral video parodying the situation.

The video posted on X shows a fan pulling into a parking lot for a tournament in Louisville with a dummy wearing a police uniform dangling from the driver's side window prompting a huge laugh and the comment, “Scottie Scheffler is here today”.

“It's kind of hard not to laugh about the guy who did that,” Scheffler said with a smile at his press conference on Tuesday. “I didn't see any videos. Xander [Schauffele] did tell me about it yesterday. He got a pretty good kick out of it.

“If all they did was make fun of me, it would be different. It wouldn't be as fun but they're great guys, and they're great friends.

“So you've got to be able to look in the mirror and laugh at yourself, too.”

What Scheffler's fellow golfers are not finding so funny is the roll the 27-year-old is on and which has him as the runaway favourite at Pinehurst No. 2.

In May Scheffler and his wife welcomed their first child into the family and young Bennett was there on Sunday when dad won the Memorial Tournament.

Having a child has changed Scheffler's life and some of his routine but not the results as he emerged from the PGA Championship chaos with a tie for second at the Charles Schwab and then victory at the Memorial.

“All I'm focused on is this week and getting ready to play,” explained Scheffler. “Just because I won last week doesn't give me any shots against the field this week.

“I try not to think about the past. I try not to think about the future. I try to live in the present.

“When I'm home I try to be the best husband and father I can be and when I'm out here I try to be the best golfer I can be.” 

Rory McIlroy is still chasing an elusive fifth major title after winning his fourth nearly a decade ago but the Northern Irishman has not given up hope and enters this week's Open feeling closer than ever to ending his drought.

McIlroy owns 39 worldwide professional victories, 26 of which have come on the PGA Tour, but he cannot seem to escape questions about his results at golf's blue-riband events given his last major win came at the PGA Championship in August 2014.

“I'm really proud of my body of work over the past 15 years and everything that I have achieved, whether it be season-long titles or individual tournaments or majors,” McIlroy, 35, said on Tuesday at Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.

“Obviously getting my hands on a fifth major has taken quite a while, but I'm more confident than ever that I'm right there, that I'm as close as I've ever been.”

McIlroy had a close call at ending his major dry spell at last year's US Open where he finished alone in second place and one shot back of Wyndham Clark on the North Course at The Los Angeles Country Club.

While McIlroy fell just short of securing that long-awaited fifth major his performance in 2023 still marked yet another positive US Open showing given it was his fifth consecutive top-10 finish at an event known as the toughest test in golf.

Viktor Hovland knows the hours are ticking on generous pin placement and soft greens with 100-degree weather expected by the second round of the tournament.

He also is one of the top players in the field who admits they're looking up at world No. 1 Scheffler, a model of consistency with five tournament wins already this season.

“He is the gold standard right now,” Bryson DeChambeau said Tuesday. “And we're all looking up to him going, All right, how do we get to that level?”

Xander Schauffele, winner of the PGA Championship on May 19, is just one spot behind Scheffler in the Official World Golf Ranking, but on Tuesday made the gap sound like a mountain to conquer. Scheffler has 16.4083 average points in 46 events, and Schauffele has 8.7285 in 43 events.

“I think I need some more work to — I obviously believe I can, but Scottie is doing incredible things,” Schauffele said. “Every week we play, he seems to build a bigger lead, and somehow make the mountain even taller for all of us to climb.”

— additional reporting by Field Level Media