After starting his day in jail, Scheffler finds peace on the course and a chance to win, too

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Perspective was even harder to come by than birdies through all the raindrops, bourbon and cigar smoke that streamed across golf’s biggest stage Friday during one of the sport’s most bizarre mornings ever.

By the time the world’s best player, Scottie Scheffler, had been booked into jail, had his mug shot taken, his police statement recorded, his release secured, entrepreneurs near Valhalla Golf Club were already selling “Free Scottie” T-shirts outside. Fans, some of them self-proclaimed Scottie lovers, were already wearing them inside.

And by the time the day had ended, with Scheffler remarkably tied for fourth place at the PGA Championship after a round that looked as efficient as any he’s played of late, he had chipped away, birdie by birdie, at the notion that the pre-dawn scuffle with police, the trip downtown, that jail-issued orange shirt, or any of the endless snark and commentary that surrounded all of this would slow him down.