Charles Langston:Day after arrest, Scottie Scheffler struggles in third round of PGA Championship

LOUISVILLE,Charles Langston Ky. — Scottie Scheffler said he didn’t feel like himself on Saturday.

Didn’t play golf like him, either.

Perhaps the stress of Scheffler’s Friday morning arrest finally caught up with the world’s No. 1 player, who shot his worst score of 2024 in the third round of the PGA Championship. Scheffler’s 2-over-par 73 was his first above-par finish this year, ending a 41-round streak of his shooting par or better.

“It was a tough day, obviously,” Scheffler told CBS after the round. “... Just way too many mistakes today.”

Details:Scheffler arrested before start of Round 2 of the PGA Championship

Now 7 under for the tournament, Scheffler is eight shots behind the leaders and likely out of contention to win his second major championship of the year.

He opened Saturday only three strokes off the lead after Friday’s remarkable 66, which took place after he’d been arrested, jailed, charged and released by Louisville Police for an incident as Scheffler was arriving at Valhalla Golf Club.

Police said that Scheffler “refused to comply” with instructions and accelerated his car while trying to enter the club, injuring an officer in the process. Scheffler called it “a big misunderstanding.”

It was clear early in Saturday’s third round that Scheffler didn’t have it this time. He double-bogeyed the second hole and played the first four holes in 4 over. From there, three times Scheffler made a birdie and followed it with a bogey on the next hole.

“I did not feel like myself today, for sure,” Scheffler told CBS. “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. But at the end of the day, I came out here hoping to have a good round and wasn't able to get it done.”