Forget Valhalla’s Kentucky bluegrass rough. It was the blue lights of the Louisville Metro Police Department that had Scottie Scheffler in a heck of fankle on a quite extraordinary and tragic day at the 106th US PGA Championship.

Amid chaotic, flabbergasting, dark and rain-sodden scenes, the world No 1 was arrested at 6:01am after trying to drive into the club through heavy traffic caused by an earlier, unrelated accident in which a tournament vendor, John Mills, died when he was struck by a shuttle bus.

Having been released and ferried back to the golf course at a furious rate, Scheffler, who became a dad for the first time the other week, put all the tumult to one side and posted a relatively serene five-under 66 for a nine-under aggregate to stay in the title hunt. In the circumstances, it was an extraordinary effort.

“I spent some time stretching in a jail cell,” he said in the aftermath of his round as he outlined his unique warmup routine. It was a golfing quote for the ages.

“I didn’t think I’d make my tee-time until an officer said ‘let’s go’,” added Scheffler of his release.

Before that lighter reflection on the morning’s proceedings, Scheffler had immediately acknowledged the tragedy that had led to the mayhem as he handled the sombre affair with admirable sensitivity and sincerity.

“First of all, my sympathies go out to the family of Mr Mills, I can’t imagine what they’re going through this morning,” he said. “One day he’s heading to the golf course to watch a tournament. A few moments later he’s trying to cross the street, and now he’s no longer with us. I feel for them. I’m sorry. My situation will get handled.”

When the details of the earlier palaver came out in the wash, Scheffler, who stated that the whole thing was a “big misunderstanding” over traffic flow, was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.

Said police officer, who was apparently dragged to the ground by Scheffler’s moving motor, suffered some dunts, cuts and bruises while his standard issue troosers were “damaged beyond repair.”

They were worth $80. Scheffler, with four wins in his last five starts, has earned over $18.5 million this season. That’s a heck of a lot of LMPD breeks.

Pretty soon, a gloomy police mugshot of the reigning Masters champion was circulated on social media and the online platform just about had to be riveted and soldered back together after an almighty frenzy of activity in the pandemonium. From the green jacket of Augusta to the orange jumpsuit of the Jefferson County jail? It was a startling wardrobe change.

On the course, though, nothing changed. If his rivals thought a stint in handcuffs and the clink would derail Scheffler, then they were wrong. It was business as usual on a very unusual day. His golfing prowess and mental fortitude came to the fore again as he manoeuvred himself into contention heading into the closing 36-holes.

Being inside the ropes was far more comfortable than being behind bars and a birdie on his very first hole underlined Scheffler’s focus. He was off and running. It had been an exhausting, emotional day, however.

“I was pretty rattled to say the least,” Scheffler admitted. “The officer that took me to the jail was very kind. He was great. We had a nice chat in the car, that kind of helped calm me down.

“I was never angry. I was shaking for like an hour, I would say in shock and in fear. Coming out here and trying to play today was definitely a challenge, but I did my best to control my mind, control my breathing.”

With Xander Schauffele setting a brisk pace on the opening day with a major record-equalling 62, the rest were playing catch up. Collin Morikawa, the US PGA champion back in 2020, was certainly up for the chase and he roared into the early clubhouse lead with a thrilling six-under 65 for an 11-under total.

Starting on the 10th tee, Morikawa raced to the turn with a surge that could’ve earned him a speeding ticket from the Louisville PD. Morikawa birdied five holes in a row from the 13th to galvanise his title tilt.

The 2021 Open champion also spoke of the chaos that had consumed the second day of play. “Obviously my best wishes go to the family that lost someone today,” he said. “It’s awful and terrible that things like that happened.

“As for Scottie, I have known him for a while and know he probably did not mean any harm. It was chaotic this morning and obviously things escalated quickly.”

It had been quite the day.