Why Scottie Scheffler's caddie is LEAVING the PGA Championship after second round

Day two at the PGA Championship proved quite the rollercoaster ride for Scottie Scheffler.

Scheffler, the current World No 1, was pinned against a police car and arrested in a 'huge misunderstanding' while making his way into Valhalla Golf Club on Friday morning, before being charged with second-degree assault of an officer and having his mugshot taken.

After being released from jail, he returned to Valhalla and put his dramatic arrest behind him in sensational fashion; making six birdies to finish on -9 after the second round and climb up to third on the leaderboard.

Yet as he gears up for what should be a more straightforward third day of the championship, Scheffler will do so without trusted caddie Ted Scott by his side.

Scott, who has caddied for Scheffler since 2021, has left the PGA Championship following the second round, the golf star revealed ahead of this weekend's crucial final two outings.

However, his departure is in no way related to Friday's arrest chaos, with the caddie instead flying home to Louisana for his daughter’s high school graduation. He is then set to return in time for the final round on Sunday.

'Probably Saturday late night, I’m sure they’ll do a little celebration afterward,' Scheffler said when asked when Scott will fly back to Louisville. 

'That’s something we talked about from the beginning of our relationship was family always comes first, and it’s the same thing for me as it is for my caddie. 

'It was a pretty easy decision. He told me at the beginning of this year that that was the date that it was, so I got a backup caddie lined up.'

In Scott's place, Scheffler's long-time friend and PGA Tour Chaplain Brad Payne will be on the bag for him in the third round.

There are no rules preventing players from switching caddies mid-tournament, allowing Scheffler to alternate between Scott and Payne until the former returns from Louisiana.

After his impressive second round in the circumstances, the two-time Masters champion opened up on his astonishing morning at Valhalla in a press conference Friday afternoon.

Scheffler insisted the whole situation was a 'huge misunderstanding', while revealing he was stretching in his jail cell to make sure he was raring to go for round two.

'I was pretty rattled to say the least,' he admitted. 'The officer that took me to the jail was very kind, he was great. We had a nice chat in the car that kind of helped calm me down. And I was sitting there waiting to kind of go in, I asked him, "hey, excuse me, can you just come? Can you just come hang out with me for a few minutes so I can calm down?"

'I was I was never angry. I was just in shock. And I think my body was just, I was shaking the whole time. I was shaking for an hour. It was definitely a new feeling for me. And he came out, we had a nice chat and then the the officers inside the jail were tremendous. 

'A couple of them made some jokes, I think when they figured out, you know, who I was and what happened, and how I ended up there. One older officer looked at me as I was doing my fingerprints. 

He goes, "so do you want the full experience today?" I kind of looked at him. I was like, "uh, I don't know how to answer that." And he's like, "come on, man, you want a sandwich?" And I was like, "Sure, I'll take a sandwich." I hadn't had breakfast yet. So, I mean, they were really kind.'

The incident involving Scheffler occurred after the second round of the PGA Championship was delayed Friday due to a fatal accident near the club.

A pedestrian was hit and killed by a shuttle bus outside the golf course. Scheffler was not involved in the accident but he was caught in a massive traffic backup around Valhalla. 

Scheffler began his much-anticipated press conference by paying tribute to the PGA Championship vendor - later named as John Mills - who died when he was hit by a bus at 5am on Friday morning.

'One day he's heading to the golf course to watch a tournament,' Scheffler said. 'A few moments later, he's trying to cross the street and he's no longer with us. I can't imagine what they're going through, my heart, you know, I feel for them. I'm sorry.'

He then told the incredible story of how he spent the early part of his morning 'stretching in a jail cell,' joking: 'That was a first for me.'

'Man, I don't really know... my head is still spinning,' he admitted. 'I was just so confused at what was happening at that time. I didn't know what time it was, I didn't know what was going on.

'I was sitting in the holding cell, and there was a TV there so I could see myself on the TV on ESPN. I was kind of thinking about my tee time... and then I laid down and started to stretch a little bit once I got my heart rate down a little bit.'