Many athletes were the butt of Nikki Glaser’s jokes at the 2024 ESPYS and Scottie Scheffler was no exception.
Glaser, 40, took to the stage to present the award for Best Male Athlete, and she wasted no time diving into a cheeky jab about Scheffler, 28, and his high-profile arrest in May.
“The nominees include peak athletes who push their bodies to the limit, and also a golfer,” Glaser began during the Thursday, July 11, ceremony. “I’m sorry, Scottie. I do know that golfing is hard. I mean there’s putting, chipping and driving over a cop’s leg.”
The audience erupted as Glaser delivered her punchline.
Glaser, however, wasn’t alone in her playful ribbing of Scheffler. The golfer’s PGA Tour peers also made light of his unfortunate run-in with the law. Fellow pro golfer Xander Schauffele, 30, revealed during a “Pardon My Take” podcast appearance on May 22 that their group chat now features Scheffler’s mugshot as the profile photo, much to everyone’s amusement.
“He handled it really well,” Schauffele said of Scheffler. “He’s a good dude. As soon as I saw it, I thought it was a prank. Then, I saw it on the news and was like, ‘Holy smokes, this actually happened.’ It feels like he’s going to come out OK from all of this.”
Schauffele also mentioned that other golfers, including Gary Woodland, Jordan Spieth, and Justin Thomas, joined in the friendly teasing within their group chat. Despite the relentless heckling, Scheffler reportedly “took it like a champ.”
The incident in question occurred on May 17, when Scheffler was detained by the Louisville Metro Police following an accident in which a pedestrian was struck. The mishap led to the temporary closure of the road into Valhalla Golf Club and delayed the start of the 2024 PGA Championship.
Us Weekly confirmed that Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell announced in a court hearing that prosecutors would not be pursuing charges against Scheffler. The golfer had faced multiple charges, including felony assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding traffic signals.
The charges were dropped on May 29 and Scheffler shared a statement via Instagram describing the situation as an “unfortunate misunderstanding” and expressed no ill will toward Officer Gillis, acknowledging the challenges police officers face. Scheffler thanked his supporters, emphasized the importance of remembering the true tragedy of May 17 and extended his condolences to the family of John Mills.
Despite the arrest and the ensuing media frenzy, Scheffler competed in the PGA Championship.
