Scottie Scheffler captured the third major victory of his career on Sunday at the PGA Championship, and Nike had a perfect new advertisement ready to celebrate the occasion.
Scheffler finished 11-under to win the PGA Championship by five shots over the rest of the field at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. Any win in a major championship is meaningful, but Scheffler’s triumph also came a year after he was arrested in a stunning incident at the same event.
Immediately after Scheffler won, Nike released an ad that references Scheffler’s 2024 arrest. The ad shows a photo of Scheffler hitting a tee shot and reads as follows:
“Best player in the world? Guilty.”
The social media post also began with “the verdict is in.”
The verdict is in.
— Nike (@Nike) May 18, 2025
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the PGA Champion. pic.twitter.com/0PVASNw4w3
Scheffler was arrested on May 17, 2024 outside of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., while police were redirecting traffic after a pedestrian was struck by a passenger shuttle and killed. Scheffler was unaware of what had happened and was trying to enter the golf club despite being redirected by police. He ended up allegedly dragging a police officer who was hanging onto the golfer’s car.
The 28-year-old Scheffler had been charged with reckless driving, criminal mischief, and second degree assault of a police officer. Scheffler said the entire ordeal was a misunderstanding, and prosecutors eventually agreed and dropped the charges.
While Scheffler has said numerous times that he prefers to move on from the incident, there is no doubt he was thinking about it at this year’s PGA Championship. His reaction after winning seemed like proof of that:
Scottie Scheffler is FIRED UP after winning the PGA Championship. pic.twitter.com/wNFxHMNZaC
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) May 18, 2025
Scheffler, who has also won the Masters twice, now has three major championship wins and 15 PGA Tour victories. Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are the only other players in the modern era who shared that resume prior to their 29th birthday.
We should have known by the color shirt Scheffler wore during one of his practice rounds that he was a man on a mission at Quail Hollow.
