😲 Scheffler Drama Continues, Murray Tragedy

The drama surrounding world #1, Scottie Scheffler, continued to dominate headlines and discussion in the golf world this past week. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Scheffler was arrested in bizarre scenes during the PGA Championship when he attempted to navigate past a serious traffic accident, and in doing so, is alleged to have ignored directions and injured a traffic cop.

Since the initial arrest, new video footage has surfaced to shed some more light on Scheffler’s encounter with law enforcement. In the short clip, Scheffler’s vehicle can be seen moving slowly through the area before an officer runs after the SUV in a panic. Honestly, the new footage looks completely innocuous and consistent with our earlier view that this is likely to be a misunderstanding and accident rather than a crime. Although the buses in front of screen to obscure anything that may have occurred before the SUV comes into vision.

Details from the police report have also been released where the arresting officer, Detective Gillis, says he “attempted to give instructions”. Scottie allegedly “refused to comply and accelerated forward, dragging Detective Gillis to the ground. Detective Gillis suffered pain, swelling, and abrasions to his left wrist and knee”.

Details regarding the arresting officer have also been made public. In addition to his breach of protocol by not having his body cam switched on at the time of the Scheffler incident (for which he was reprimanded), it became known that Detective Gillis has a reputation for being “ticket happy” - having received a commendation from the Chief of Louisville Police in 2021 for issuing 108 infringements within a 4-hour operation 🥵🥵🥵.

Despite this fresh information, it seems charges are moving forward. The Louisville Mayor confirmed that no charges are being dropped at this stage, and Scheffler’s arraignment has now been set for June 24. His lawyer has stated they are not interested in any plea deal and there are only 2 possible outcomes - dropping of the charges or trial. The saga continues…

Murray Tragedy

Grayson Murray, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, passed away over the weekend at the age of 30. His was discovered the day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Challenge. His family have confirmed Grayson took his own life and much has been made of his battles with addiction and mental illness. The golfing community is certainly in shock and mourning following the news.

Murray’s journey had been marked by both triumph and struggle. After claiming his first PGAT title in his rookie year (2017), Murray was plagued by personal demons and lost his Tour card. Despite this, he persevered on the Korn Ferry Tour, grinding his way back to the PGAT. His redemption story looked complete when, just four months ago, he secured his 2nd PGAT victory at the Sony Open, sinking a remarkable 40-foot putt to win in a playoff. He was open in expressing how his fiancée and newfound faith in God had played an instrumental role in his resurgence.

At the Charles Schwab, Murray started decently with an opening round of 68 (-2). However, things took a downturn during his second round. After bogeying three consecutive holes late in the round, he turned to his playing partner, Peter Malnati, and uttered the words, “I’m done”. Murray then walked off the course to withdraw, citing illness. Tragically, the following day brought reports of his death. Malnati would later to an emotional interview on the CBS coverage talking of those final moments playing with Grayson.

Murray’s passing prompted an outpouring of thoughts and condolences on social media from the golfing world. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan issued a statement saying that he had been in contact with Grayson’s family and offered to cancel the remaining rounds of the tournament. However, his family insisted on the event proceeding saying it would be what Grayson wanted.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Murray’s family, fiancée, friends and golfing colleagues.

🏆 Results Recap

PGAT: Charles Schwab Challenge

Davis Riley has claimed a 5 shot victory over Keegan Bradley and Scottie Scheffler at Colonial. In a real snoozer of a tournament, Scheffler surged in the 3rd round to prevent Riley from running away with the tournament, but in the end the result was never in doubt as Riley cruised to victory without fuss.

DPWT: Soudal Open

Spaniard Nacho Elvira has edged out LIV Golf’s Thomas Pieters to take victory at the Soudal Open in Belgium. Pieters was the hometown favourite and challenged to take a share of second. But Nacho was able to hold on for his second DPWT victory.

Champions Tour: Senior PGA Championship

Aussie verteran, Greg “Snake” Chalmers, was unable to stop “Blandemonium” breaking out at the Senior PGA Championship held at Harbour Shores. Chalmers, who went into the final round tied for the lead with Ernie Els, stumbled late on the back 9 as Richard Bland powered home to take victory with a superb 8-under par final round.

🍴Quick Bites

Here are some golf quick bites for you to snack on:

• LIV Team Championship heads to Maridoe - LIV has finally announced the location for the final event of the year, which will be Maridoe Golf Club in Dallas, TX. This place looks superb and should be a great venue. It is predicted to be a beast of a course for the players.

• LIV’s Trade Window produces a donut - the mid-season trade window for LIV teams to make deals has passed with no trades whatsoever. This is a real disappointment, as the teams/trades aspect of LIV has huge potential if they can get this right. Fingers crossed the end of the season brings more trading activity for players and fans.

• Xander no chance to sign with LIV - or at least according to his Dad. Stefan Shauffele, who has been Xander’s coach for almost his entire career, has publicly commented following the PGA Championship win at Valhalla, saying that whilst there are no OWGR points and no path back to the PGAT for LIV players, Xander no zero chance of signing with LIV.

• Rory/Balionis affair hits mainstream media - we reported last week that there was social media speculation following Rory’s divorce announcement that he might be engaged in a relationship with CBS golf and football correspondent, Amanda Balionis. That speculation hit the mainstream media this week with the New York Post publishing an article on the potential romance.

📅 Schedule for the Week

The PGAT heads north for the RBC Canadian Open this week. Shankers will recall bizarre scenes from this tournament last year where Adam Hadwin was tackled by a security guard as he ran onto the 18th green attempting to celebrate compatriot Nick Taylor’s win.

Major season continues, this time for the Women who will be battling it out as the US Women’s Open. 5 Aussies will be teeing it up, including the big names of Minjee Lee, Hannah Green and Gabby Ruffels.

Your golfing schedule for the week, and how to watch is below:

• PGAT: RBC Canadian Open - Hamilton Golf & Country Club (Ontario), $9.2m purse, Friday 31/5 to Monday 3/6 - Coverage on Foxtel & Kayo, Main Coverage starts 5am AEST Friday, Featured Groups from 8.45pm Thursday.

• LIV Golf: No event

• DPWT: European Open - Green Eagle Golf Courses (Hamburg, Germany), $2.5m purse, Thursday 30/5 to Sunday 2/6 - Coverage on Foxtel & Kayo, starts 9.00pm AEST Thursday.

• LPGA: US Women’s Open - Lancaster Country Club (Philadelphia), $12m purse, Friday 31/5 to Monday 3/6 - Coverage on Foxtel & Kayo, starts 2.00am AEST Friday.