How ESPN’s Jeff Darlington landed at the center of the Scottie Scheffler arrest story

By Eva Rothenberg, CNN

New York (CNN) — ESPN journalist Jeff Darlington witnessed the arrest of World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler Friday morning before the second round of the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, thrusting the reporter into the middle of one of the strangest sports stories in recent memory.

Darlington and Scheffler had arrived at the course around the same time in preparation for the tournament. After reportedly attempting to drive around the scene of a fatal crash, Scheffler was arrested and charged with a felony and other counts. He was later released and has since teed off in the tournament.

Darlington was not only a witness to the incident, he also attempted to intervene. He was only several feet away from Scheffler when the golfer was arrested, and Darlington tried – and failed – to explain to the police that Scheffler was a participant in the tournament.

“We didn’t want to be part of this story, we ended up being at least on the periphery,” said ESPN commentator Dave Fleming on air after the incident.

ESPN told CNN that the network is not commenting on this story.

How the story unfolded

Darlington broke the news of Scheffler’s arrest in a series of posts on X and explained the incident in greater detail on ESPN’s SportsCenter less than an hour later. He said the incident occurred around 6 a.m. after a “misunderstanding” in which Scheffler tried to circumvent police presence at the scene of an unrelated car accident that occurred outside of golf club.

“The police officer attempted to attach himself to Scheffler’s car, and Scheffler then stopped his vehicle at the entrance to Valhalla,” Darlington wrote on X. “The police officer then began to scream at Scheffler to get out of the car. When Scheffler exited the vehicle, the officer shoved Scheffler against the car and immediately placed him in handcuffs.”

“At which point (Scheffler) – seeing me behind him – said ‘can you help?’ The police officers instructed me to step back,” Darlington told audiences on air shortly after.

In a video posted on X an hour later, Darlington follows the police officers as they lead Scheffler away. Several police officers tell him to step back.

“Right now he’s going to jail. He’s going to jail and there’s nothing you can do about it.” one officer told Darlington, referring to Scheffler. Darlington clarifies that he’s a member of the media, and the police reiterate that he needs to step back.

“The police officers around the patrol car in which Scottie Scheffler was in had no idea he was even Scottie Scheffler,” Darlington clarified on air. “I say that because one police officer came up to me with his pad and said…can you tell me the name of the person who was just arrested.”

Darlington said that players were told they were allowed to enter the facility, and that Scheffler said that he kept driving past the police vehicle because he “didn’t know that he was a police officer.”

Scheffler charged with a felony

Scheffler was charged with second-degree assault on a police officer – a felony – along with lesser charges of third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic, according to Jefferson County court records. He’s been released from jail, according to the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections.

Attorney Steve Romines, who represents Scheffler, told CNN affiliate WLKY that the golfer bypassed police because of a misunderstanding.

“They were directing traffic, he held his media credential out and was going in like they’d been instructed to,” Romines said. Scheffler’s attorney declined to comment on why the golfer was charged with assault, saying he will let the case play out in court.

The PGA Championship tournament was delayed by an hour and a half, and began at around 8:30 Friday morning.

“This morning we were devastated to learn that a worker with one of our vendors was tragically struck and killed by a shuttle bus outside Valhalla Golf Club,” PGA said in a statement. “This is heartbreaking to all of us involved with the PGA Championship. We extend our sincere condolences to their family and loved ones.”

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CNN’s Jill Martin, Michelle Krupa and Eric Levenson contributed to this reporting.