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Scottie Scheffler is already dealing with the drama around his unexpected arrest and will add to that not having his trusted caddie with him for the next 18 holes of the PGA Championship. The world's No. 1 golfer was arrested and released prior to his Friday tee time due to a chaotic traffic violation and didn't slow him down as he shot 5-under 66 to get to 9-under — three shots behind leader Xander Schauffele. He was charged with charged with second-degree assault of a police officer and third-degree criminal mischief along with reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals from an officer. Scheffler will now be without Ted Scott, who has been his caddie since 2021, to start the third round at Valhalla Golf Club on Saturday. However, the caddie change has nothing to do with Friday's incident, as Scheffler revealed the plan ahead of the tournament. On Tuesday, Scheffler mentioned that Scott will fly out of Louisville to attend his daughter's high school graduation on Saturday before returning at some point that evening to be with Scheffler for the final round on Sunday. "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," Scheffler said. "It was a pretty easy decision. He told me at the beginning of this year that was the date that it was, so I got a backup caddie lined up. One of my buddies is going to carry the bag on Saturday, and then Ted will be back for Sunday's round." Instead, long-term friend Brad Payne, who is a PGA Tour chaplain after playing golf at Pepperdine University, will be in alongside Scheffler.
"It's one of my older friends who travels week to week out here…" Scheffler said on Tuesday. "I trust him to rake a bunker more than my buddies." As chaplain, Payne is around the golfers often, lending support to the players, their families and friends, and several others involved in the tournament's events. Payne also previously served as a caddie for former PGA Tour golfer Paul Stankowski, according to PGATour.com. Scott, who has been Scheffler's caddie through his 10 PGA Tour victories, will not miss his possible 11th and third major championship win on Sunday.
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