On the Friday morning of the PGA Championship, PGA vendor worker, John Mills, sadly passed away after he was struck in a bus lane at Valhalla Golf Club.
Following his unfortunate death, there was a near 90 minute delay to tee times at the tournament and, according to PGA Tour winner, Will Zalatoris, there was serious consideration as to whether play should have got underway following the sad and dramatic morning.
Speaking to Gabby Herzig, Zalatoris stated: "Some of the guys were talking about... wondering if we should even play today. At one point there were a group of guys in the locker room talking about going to the PGA of America about it, but I think it was dead in the water in the locker room. It was bizarre. We just didn’t know… when Scottie was going to get out, (or) any of the details."
The 27-year-old went on to add: "The fatality happened, hey it was maybe let’s not try to rush this thing in. It happened right in front of the gates. Let’s push this back three to four hours or something and we can make it up on the weekend. When it happened with Scottie we were just all shell-shocked and didn’t know what to do or think or say.
"In 20/20 hindsight maybe a four, or five, hour delay just to let the (Louisville Metropolitan Police Department) do their business and let them handle everything that happened because a life was lost and let us come in as normal as possible, and unfortunately the World No.1 got arrested. This is the world of golf to a T right now. There’s no such thing as normality."
According to reports, Zalatoris and Cameron Young were forced to walk to Valhalla due to traffic congestion in Kentucky, with the American pair filmed heading to the venue on foot.
🚨🚶🏻⛳️ #WATCH: Will Zalatoris and Cam Young are walking to Valhalla on foot and are a half mile to the course with traffic disruptions causing delays. pic.twitter.com/S1hHzeP0pIMay 17, 2024
As mentioned, World No.1 Scottie Scheffler was arrested and, in fact, charged with assault in the second degree of a police officer, criminal mischief in the third degree, reckless driving, and disregarding signals from officers directing traffic.
After arriving, a statement was released from the Scheffler camp and, after he fired a five-under 66 on Friday, the two-time Major winner described the incident as a misunderstanding, stating: “My heart goes out to the family. But outside of that, yeah, I'm glad to be out here competing, doing what I love.”
