A Grip on Sports: It’s not every day you can watch a PGA golfer be arrested on national TV, but today is that day
A GRIP ON SPORTS • Most mornings include a little time for us to gather our thoughts, sip on some hot coffee and leisurely assess the world around us. Today was not most mornings.
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• As we were scanning the sports news caught in the worldwide web, we were ensnared as well. By some out-of-the-ordinary news. How out of the ordinary? The reigning Masters champion handcuffed, put in a squad car and subsequently booked for a felony. Was Scottie Scheffler’s morning out of the ordinary enough for you?
Early this Friday in Louisville, there was a pedestrian fatality outside Valhalla, the club hosting the year’s second major tournament, the PGA Championship. As one might expect, that incident snarled traffic. Made it nearly impossible, according to reports, to get around anywhere, even roads some distance from the fatal collision.
Enter Scheffler. We know the what. It’s too early to know why, at least definitively. Or how it will impact the world’s No. 1 player’s quest to follow up his Masters win with a PGA title. But we know a few things.
We know Scheffler made it to the course before his tee time, one that was delayed, not necessarily due to his arrest but because of the earlier death. And that he had an abbreviated warmup. That ESPN’s cameras followed him onto the property and through the run-up to his first swing on the par-5 10th hole.
An ESPN reporter also witnessed the incident with the police, took video – of course – and posted it. The opinions are already flying. The facts will be discussed and dissected for hours. Days, weeks, months maybe.
By the way, Scheffler, who shot a four-under-par round on Thursday, stepped up to the tee, acknowledged a huge roar from the rain-drenched crowd, took a deep breath and pushed his first shot just off the fairway to the right.
“A couple hours ago, we were really, truly, not sure we would see that swing from the world No. 1,” Bob Wischusen said on ESPN+.
Two shots later, he stood over a birdie putt. And made it. The crowd, which included more phones than a T-Mobile commercial, went wild.
“After a morning probably unlike any he’s ever had his entire life,” Wischusen said, “he starts off his round with a birdie 4.”
• If Scheffler’s issue got you to the golf today, you may just want to stay around for the next couple days. ESPN covers today, then, for the weekend, turn to CBS, which will start at 10 a.m. both days.
That’s not all that’s available to watch, of course.
There’s the M’s too. Their toughest road trip of the early season. In Baltimore. Tonight’s game is on Root (4:05), as is Sunday’s (10:35 a.m.). Saturday you have to tune to FS1 at 1:05 p.m.
Then again, the baseball is just one series in a forest of them.
The NBA playoffs are slowly moving toward their denouement, with the most-interesting series, defending champion Denver vs. up-and-coming Minnesota, to be determined in Sunday’s seventh game. The time is still to be determined as well, with ABC waiting on tonight’s game between Indiana and the Knicks to make a final determination.
The NHL’s long slog continues as well, with our eyes focused north, where Vancouver took a 3-2 win over Edmonton on Thursday night with another last-minute goal. Game six is in Alberta tomorrow, with the Canucks looking to move on. Broadcast plans are still to be determined.
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WSU: Around the Pac-12 and the nation, the NCAA softball tournament starts today and we can pass along stories from Washington, UCLA, Arizona and Stanford and California. … Former Washington State player Johanna Teder has found a new home. She’ll play at Colorado. … The roster for Oregon State’s women has changed almost completely since the season ended. Has that changed coach Scott Rueck’s thoughts about Corvallis? … One thing that’s changed: The Beavers and Oregon will not play next season. … The regular-season baseball race is coming down to one series. Oregon State is at Arizona, needing to sweep to win the title. The Beavers won the opener. … USC paid football coach Lincoln Riley more than all but three other college coaches. … Washington is counting on the local talent.
Gonzaga: It’s official. Khalif Battle signed a financial-aid agreement with the Zags, allowing the school to announce he’s headed to Spokane. Theo Lawson has more in this story. … The women also had some roster news yesterday, announcing the addition of 6-foot-1 forward McKynnlie Dalan. Greg Lee takes care of that story.
Indians: Spokane got back to its winning ways with an 8-6 victory over visiting Vancouver. Dave has this story from Avista Stadium. … Elsewhere in the NWL, Eugene edged host Everett 5-4 and Tri-City got past visiting Hillsboro 4-3.
Preps: Yes, we have a roundup of Thursday’s district action from Dave Nichols, but we want to point out this feature from Dave on Mead’s soccer squad and its post-season success.
Mariners: Andres Munoz pitches angry. And that’s good.
Seahawks: From Denver’s season-opening visit to Seattle – sorry, no more Russell Wilson stories – to the ender, a visit from the Rams, here is every game of the Hawks’ schedule ranked by Bob Condotta.
Storm: Charter flights are coming. Just not in time for Seattle’s first road trip.
Golf: This morning’s news overshadowed the news from Thursday, when Xander Schauffele had a putt to set the scoring record for a single round in the majors. He missed but his 62 – the second time he’s shot that in a major – gave him a three-stroke lead.
Preakness: Despite the favorite being scratched, there are still storylines for Saturday’s race, which will post at 4 p.m. on NBC.
Sounders: Salaries were released by the players’ union yesterday and, surprise, Miami’s Lionel Messi is paid more than just about every team.
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• We don’t cover breaking news much. Mainly because it rarely happens. And we know our column will be here all day without a change. But today’s news hit hard enough we thought we better get after it a bit. Until later …