Scottie Scheffler on The Arrest: “It was fairly traumatic.”

The whole situation is not on his top 10 list of things to discuss. And Scottie Scheffler said he has not moved beyond it. The charges were finally dropped last Thursday.

“The charges are dropped, but I still -- now it's almost more appropriate for people to ask me about it and ask me about the situation and, to be honest with you, it's not something that I love reliving, just because it was fairly traumatic for me being arrested going into the golf course,” he admitted in his pre-tournament press conference at The Memorial.

While he doesn’t like talking about it, he knew he was going to have to. It was the first question he got from golf media. Fortunately, the charges against Scheffler were dropped by the Jefferson County attorney Mike O'Connell on May 29th.

“When the charges are dropped, that's kind of only the beginning of kind of getting past it, if that makes sense,” he added about what can only be described as a bizarre situation prior to round two of the PGA Championship.

Scottie Scheffler believes the experience will always be with him. 

The mug shot, he said, with a smile, is probably going to be around for longer than he would like.

Scheffler seems the least likely person in golf to be arrested for anything, although he did admit that he had received some speeding tickets in the past. Probably trying to make a tee time. It does mean that the halo that he seems to have is not permanently attached to his head. He’s human, thank goodness.

However, if they had not been dropped, he was ready to file a lawsuit against the Louisville Police Department. That was something he really did not want to do.

“I did not want to have to pursue legal action against Louisville because, at the end of the day, the people of Louisville are then going to have to pay for the mistakes of their police department, and that just doesn't seem right,” he said.

His lawyer, Steve Romines, was also ready. But it was still a relief that none of that had to happen.  Now Scheffler is trying to put some distance between himself and the bad experience in Louisville.

There were plenty of people in his corner. ESPN Reporter Jeff Darlington was actually on the scene when it happened.

Most people were in disbelief.

Scheffler said that the support he received from fans and players was “tremendous.” His friends joked with him about it, but only because they were sure he was going to be released, and they felt that the charges would be dropped.  

“Friends are supposed to joke about that kind of stuff. But those are the same guys that will also give me a hug and ask me if I'm all right,” he added.

Then the conversation switched to golf, and it was almost like the arrest and orange jumpsuit moment had never happened. Almost. 

Last week, he tried to practice, but admitted he did not get much of a chance because it rained so much in Dallas. He and his fellow golfers were either chased off by lightning or the courses were closed because of the excessive rain. In addition, he was still on newborn duty, which was likely a welcome diversion.

So, how Scheffler’s mental state has recovered will be determined when he tees it up at Muirfield Village Golf Club this week.

We know he can play under duress, because he played two rounds of the PGA after being arrested, but nobody knows how much this will affect his game in the weeks and months ahead. Most hope he can overcome it.