The morning of May 17, 2024, started with a death and ended with a standing ovation. In the space between, Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1, was alone in a Louisville holding cell, watching himself on ESPN.

That account resurfaced Thursday morning. Robby Berger, known on X as @BrilliantlyDumb, posted a 57-second clip from a golf outing with Scheffler, captioned simply: “Had to ask Scottie about jail.” No press box. No prepared remarks. Just Scheffler on a course, walking through what that morning looked like from inside the cell.

“So when I was sitting in the cell they put me in — like a holding cell, so I think, yeah. So I’m in a cell by myself. If you went to the front of the cell and looked out that way, I could see the TV. And I saw myself on the TV.”

A fatal pedestrian accident near Valhalla Golf Club’s entrance had stopped all course entry by 5:00 a.m. ET. Scheffler drove a marked player-courtesy vehicle toward the gates at around 6:15 a.m., unaware that the road had been closed. Detective Bryan Gillis moved to stop him. Handcuffs followed. The booking was logged at 7:28 a.m., and the charges were broken in real time as they were being filed.

“But then I saw myself on the TV, then I saw they delayed it, and I was like, ‘Maybe… maybe I’ll get out of here in time, and I can still play.'”

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Then one thing cut through. On that same broadcast, a graphic confirmed tee times had been pushed back. His original 8:48 a.m. start was gone, moved to 10:08 a.m. because of the accident outside. That number, visible through the cell door, was the first concrete reason to think he might still play.

Berger had asked whether Scheffler realized, sitting in that cell, how large the story had already become. The answer went elsewhere entirely, and it was not the story that Berger had expected, not about the charges. Scheffler spoke about the tee time.

When Berger brought up the “Free Scottie” shirts fans were already wearing by tee time, Scheffler acknowledged it and kept moving: “Yeah, so you know, we do everything. I just do a quick stretch, go to the tee.”

That stretch had a foundation.

The composure Scottie Scheffler built inside a PGA Championship jail cell

Scheffler was released at 8:40 a.m. He returned to Valhalla with a police escort and teed off at 10:08 a.m. He shot a 5-under 66, without a standard warm-up. His preparation was done in a jail cell.

While waiting for release, Scheffler went through a basic version of his routine in the cell. Hip flexor stretches, upper back rotations, and reverse lunges. It was the same sequence he used before any round, adjusted for the limited space.

“I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell. That was a first for me. That was part of my warmup. I was just sitting there waiting, and I started going through my warmup.”

“People were going nuts. It’s just very confused people on the team. They went crazy. That’s like one of the loudest receptions I ever got.”

Berger’s response cut through it: “He was in jail 30 minutes ago.”

Scheffler finished the tournament tied for eighth. All four charges, including second-degree assault of a police officer, were dropped on May 29, 2024, after Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell filed for dismissal and Judge Anne Delahanty accepted. That morning, Scheffler watched himself on a jail cell television, not knowing if he would make his tee time. He shot 66 in that round.