LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Professional golfer Scottie Scheffler spoke publicly Tuesday for the first time since all the charges were dropped against him.
Scheffler, who is playing in this week’s Memorial Tournament, was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic. The assault charge was a felony offense.
In a news conference in Dublin, Ohio that ABC News attended, Scheffler said he found out that the charges were going to be dropped at the end of the week of the Colonial.
"Obviously, we had a lot of evidence on our side. We needed to let the legal process play out at that point," he said. "...Nothing is obviously official until it becomes really official, but I think Friday afternoon it was pretty official in our mind. They just needed to meet with the judge to go over details and stuff like that."
Scheffler said he hasn't moved past the arrest because, even through the charges are dropped, it's still something he has to live with.
"To be honest with you, [the arrest is] not something that I love reliving, just because it was fairly traumatic for me being arrested going into the golf course. And so it's not something that I love talking about and it's something that I'm hoping to move past, but when the charges are dropped, that's kind of only the beginning of kind of getting past it, if that makes sense," he said. "It was definitely a bit of a relief, but not total relief because that's something that will always, I think, kind of stick with me. That mug shot, I'm sure is not going anywhere anytime soon."
The golfer said for him personally there was no consideration to sue Louisville Metro Police (LMPD). He added that if they "needed" to pursue legal action, him and his lawyer, Attorney Steve Romines, were prepared to do so since there was a "ton" of evidence in their favor.
"If I had to show up in court, I think Steve was more than prepared to pursue legal action," Scheffler said. "But at the end of the day, I did not want to have to pursue legal action against Louisville because at the end of the day, the people of Louisville are then going to have to pay for the mistakes of their police department, and that just doesn't seem right. So at no point did I ever want to sue them, but if it came there, I think my lawyer was more than prepared to use that as more of like a bargaining chip-type thing more than anything."
Scheffler said throughout this whole incident, he didn't receive any negative comments from anyone who knows him personally. He said the support he received from the fans and his fellow players was "tremendous," and that his friends now joke with him about it.
"My friends will joke about it, but that's because they're my friends. Friends are supposed to joke about that kind of stuff. But those are the same guys that will also give me a hug and ask me if I'm all right," Scheffler said.
The golfer said the public expects perfection from everyone but doesn't believe when people make mistakes they should be crucified for it.
"I believe in forgiveness, I believe in grace, and I try to give that out as much as possible because of how much grace I've been given."
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.