Scottie Scheffler closes with 65 to wrap wild week at PGA Championship

Scottie Scheffler laid his head down on the scorer’s table after completing his final-round 65 at Valhalla Golf Club. A wild week was over and he could barely stay awake.

“I think I about fell asleep,” he said, “so I’m just kind of wondering what time bedtime is.”

Scheffler hadn’t competed in the three weeks prior to the PGA Championship as he and wife Meredith awaited the birth of their first child. Their son was born May 8, just eight days before the year’s second major began. Then Scheffler endured a week that included a serviceable opening-round 67; an unexpected arrest followed by a remarkable second-round 66; an out-of-character 73 with a fill-in caddie the next day; and finally his Sunday 65 to restore order.

While his winning streak is over – Scheffler won his last two starts before the PGA, and four of his previous five – his performance at Valhalla was impressive, nonetheless, because of all that had happened. His score of 13-under 271 put him inside the top 10 when he walked off the 18th green.

“I've gotten better throughout my career of leaving the off-course distractions at home and kind of keeping a pretty quiet personal life, and this week obviously that was not the case,” Scheffler said.

The extra attention started when he arrived at Valhalla, and not just because of the dominance he had exhibited in the weeks preceding the PGA Championship. Scheffler is No. 1 in the world ranking and FedExCup by a large margin thanks to victories in this year’s Masters, PLAYERS Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and RBC Heritage.

Because of Scheffler’s preference for privacy, there was extra curiosity about his intentions for this week until he arrived on-site. Though he was listed in the field and pre-tournament interview schedule, no official announcements had come about the baby’s birth or his PGA plans.

At Valhalla, however, he spoke of becoming a father, then resumed his incredible play. He holed out for eagle 2 on his first hole of the week en route to a 67. Then came the tragedy and chaos of Friday morning, when a fatal accident outside Valhalla delayed play. Scheffler was headed to the course before the sun rose for his morning tee time, but he was arrested after what he termed a “big misunderstanding” with a police officer directing traffic.

Scheffler was released without bail, according to ESPN, in time to play the second round. He said his head was still “spinning” when he arrived at the course but he shot a 66 that was spectacular considering the circumstances. His post-round press conference was even more impressive. Scheffler earned universal praise for his interview, during which he re-focused the attention on the fatal accident, praised the police officers he interacted with in custody, and said he never sought special treatment.

“It was a chaotic situation and a big misunderstanding,” said Scheffler, who spent some of time in jail going through his pre-round stretching routine.

The next day, he was without his regular caddie, Ted Scott, whose arrival on the bag 2.5 years ago coincided with Scheffler’s rise to world No. 1. Scott flew home for his daughter’s high school graduation Saturday, and his role was filled by Brad Payne, Scheffler’s mentor and a chaplain on the PGA TOUR.

The adrenaline that fueled Scheffler for his incredible Friday performance had left him by the following morning.

“I think it finally hit me what really happened,” Scheffler said. “Friday most of the day I didn't really even eat. I came up here and had a couple bites of some eggs and a piece of bacon and went out and played. We were sitting at home, and I realized that I hadn't even eaten dinner yet and it was almost 9 o'clock at night, and I wasn't hungry. As somebody who's a pretty big eater, that was a strange feeling.”

Scheffler played the first four holes of his third round in 4-over par. His 73 on a low-scoring day dropped him out of contention and ended his streak of 42 straight rounds under par in a mojr championship. He bogeyed his first hole Sunday but made seven birdies and no bogeys the rest of the way. Scheffler is scheduled to play next week’s Charles Schwab Challenge near his hometown of Dallas. His schedule is uncertain, however, because of a scheduled Tuesday arraignment.

“Right now … I'm fairly tired, definitely a lot more tired than I have been finishing some other tournaments,” he said Sunday evening. “But I'm proud of today how we went out there and fought.”