Longhorns Country

Nike Runs Hilarious Scottie Scheffler Ad After PGA Championship Win

In their newest ad about the former Texas Longhorn, Nike uses a play on words related to Scheffler's arrest at last year's edition of the tournament.

Tyler Firtel

May 18, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Scottie Scheffler celebrates after winning the PGA Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
May 18, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Scottie Scheffler celebrates after winning the PGA Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

At last year's PGA Championship held at Valhalla Club in Louisville, Kentucky, Scottie Scheffler was arrested in the early morning when attempting to enter the golf course ahead of his Friday tee time.

He was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer and three misdemeanors and was brought to jail for over an hour before being released and allowed to return to the golf course. Scheffler arrived in time to tee off and subsequently shot a 66, the second-best score of the day, almost like nothing had even happened. Except, something had.

Scheffler's arrest was the biggest story of the morning, with sports fans waking up in shock and confusion. ESPN's Jeff Darlington broke the news on his X account, and the post accumulated over 25 million views.

Scheffler arrest
Spectators who did not want to be identified wore Free Scottie T-shirts and one wore an orange jumpsuit like shown in the Louisville Metro Corrections mug shot of professional golfer Scottie Scheffler at the 2024 PGA Championship second round Friday at Valhalla Golf Course in Louisville, Kentucky. May 17, 2024. Scheffler was arrested early Friday morning on charges of second-degree assault, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from an officer directing / Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

The charges against the former Texas Longhorn were dropped 12 days later on May 29, 2024. But the legacy of the incident has lived on in the golf world.

Following Scheffler's victory at the 2025 PGA Championship just over a year since his arrest, Nike released a humorous ad referencing Scheffler's run-in with the law.

The ad has been well received by Nike's audience and the play on words is a clever way to deliver a message clear in the current professional golf scene: Scottie Scheffler is the best player in the world.

Since his arrest, Scheffler's accomplishments include two majors and the FedExCup title, a gold medal in the 2024 Olympic Games and the Jack Nicklaus Award for the third straight year.

Last week at Quail Hollow Club, Scheffler went from the tournament's favorite to its champion. The world No. 1 ran away with the Wanamaker Trophy, finishing at 11 under and five strokes ahead of the golfers tied for second. The PGA Championship is the Texas alum's third major victory and first not at the Masters Tournament. He is now halfway to the career Grand Slam at only 28 years old.

Scheffler signed with Nike in 2022 and has been the face of their golf division since then. The company's other sponsored golfers include Rory McIlroy, Tony Finau, Tommy Fleetwood, and Tom Kim.

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Tyler Firtel
TYLER FIRTEL

Tyler Firtel is a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin majoring in Journalism and minoring in the Analytics and Business of Sports. He has been writing for Texas Longhorns on SI since May 2025. Firtel also writes for The Daily Texan and has previously written for Prime Time Sports Talk and his high school newspaper, The Brentwood Flyer. He has experience in podcasting as well, self-producing Tyler’s Takes to interview members of the sports industry. Firtel is from Los Angeles, CA but splits his professional sports fandom between LA and San Diego (Lakers, Chargers, Padres, LAFC). At home, he is lucky to have lovely parents, two younger sisters and a bernedoodle named Java.

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