The image of Scottie Scheffler being led away in handcuffs is the most astonishing of the sporting year... a devout Christian, he is the last man you'd expect to see in a mugshot

It was a little after 10am here when Scottie Scheffler sliced his first shot of the day into the rough. If that drive was out of character, then it had nothing on the benchmark he had set in his car four hours earlier.

The footage of the world No 1, both in golf and placidity, being led away in handcuffs by Louisville police will endure among the most astonishing moments of the sporting year.

That his longest, strangest day ended with him firmly in contention to win the US PGA Championship was extraordinary in an altogether different kind of way. 

He has often been credited with having the most unflappable mind in the game, but compiling a loop of 66 after being charged with assaulting a police officer, and then warming up in a jail cell, took the theme to new places.

‘As far as best rounds of my career, I would say it was pretty good,’ he said. ‘I definitely never imagined going to jail, and I never imagined going to jail the morning before one of my tee times for sure.’

Scottie Scheffler is led away in handcuffs by police shortly after 6am on Friday morning

He then appeared in prison clothes for a mugshot in Louisville, before being released by cops

Hours later, Scheffler was back out on the course, and birdied two of his first three holes

By then, he was dressed in a white sweater, which was worth noting only for the fact he was stood for a prison mugshot in orange scrubs just a couple of hours before he was due on the first tee. That was an image that had somehow made it on to t-shirts within his galleries by the close of play. 

If we are to chart the timeline of his Friday at Valhalla Golf Club, it must be remembered first that everything happened after a terrible tragedy, when John Mills, a security guard at the tournament, was hit by a bus as he walked towards Valhalla Golf Club and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The crux of Scheffler’s situation, a ‘big misunderstanding’ as he would later describe it, came when he subsequently arrived for his early tee time and was blocked by the traffic as police managed the area.

According to the police report into his arrest, the American failed to comply with the demands of an officer by taking his car into the wrong lane in trying to gain entry. 

The escalation point concerns what is said to have occurred next, when Scheffler attempted to drive away with the officer, Bryan Gillis, still leaning in through his window. That caused Gillis to be dragged alongside the vehicle, leaving him in need of hospital treatment for cuts to his knees and wrist.

Eye witnesses say Scheffler was then pushed up against his vehicle and handcuffed, with footage of him pleading for help beamed around the world shortly after his arrest at 6.01am. From there, he confirmed he was put in a cell at a local police station and ultimately released at 8.40am, before getting back to the grounds of Valhalla at 9.12am. Taking his place on the tee at 10.08am, he would card six birdies and one bogey in progressing from four under par to nine under.

Scheffler has a reputation as a devout Christian, and a family man who has just started a family

Scheffler won the Masters last month, and it has been a rollercoaster ride for the world No 1

At the time of going to press, that left him only three back of Xander Schauffele, who improved his lead to 12 under with a 68. 

Collin Morikawa burned hot in a 65 to go 11 under, with Rory McIlroy remaining at five under via an underwhelming 71. By then the Northern Irishman and his own noisy week wasn’t the subject of interest anymore.

It remains to be seen how this concludes for Scheffler, both in a sporting context and any legal ramifications - the 27-year-old will be arraigned on Tuesday, where he will hear four charges against him. 

The most serious of those is the felony offence of second-degree assault on a police officer, but Scheffler is under the impression it will be resolved ‘fairly quickly’.

In addressing the media, Scheffler said: ‘First of all, my sympathies go out to the family of Mr Mills. I can't imagine what they're going through this morning.’

To give Scheffler his due, he reiterated that point multiple times, before going into the broader details of his day, if not the exact mechanics of his arrest.

‘My situation will get handled,’ he added. ‘It was a chaotic situation and a big misunderstanding. I can't comment on any of the specifics of it.

‘I feel like my head is still spinning. I can't really explain what happened this morning. I did spend some time stretching in a jail cell and that was a first for me.

Fans quickly donned 'Free Scottie' t-shirts at Valhalla after the crazy events of Friday morning

Scheffler received a rapturous reception from the fans at Valhalla when he returned from jail

He seemed in good spirits with his caddie and fellow players on the driving range pre-round

‘I was just sitting there waiting and I started going through my warmup, because I felt like there was a chance I may be able to still come out here and play. I was pretty rattled to say the least.

‘I couldn't tell you how long I was in the cell. I wasn't wearing a watch or didn't have access to my phone, but the officers at the jail were tremendous.

‘Like I said, it was just a huge misunderstanding this morning. I think that'll get resolved fairly quickly.’

That Scheffler is at the heart of such a situation has given it a surreal edge. In recent seasons he has been depicted, quite accurately, as the dead-eyed assassin with an aw-shucks personality; a devout Christian who has no mercy for his rivals on the course and never veers towards anything contentious off it.

Indeed, it is little exaggeration to suggest the two-time Masters champion is shaping into golf’s most dominant force since Tiger Woods, albeit with none of the accompanying news stories.

Coming into this tournament, the only narrative around him, beyond the fading doubts around his putting stroke, was whether the arrival of his first child this month might knock him off balance.

That wasn’t on show during his opening 67 and going one better after his trip to jail was startling even by his standards. Barring a three-putt bogey on the 11th, he was imperious amid the sort of scrutiny with which he is entirely unfamiliar.