LOUISVILLE — After answering questions for the better part of April on the pending birth of his first child, Scottie Scheffler officially became a father. He and wife have Meredith welcomed son Bennett to the world last week.
“It’s a pretty amazing feeling,” Scheffler told Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis. “It was fun times at the Scheffler home, for sure.”
The world No. 1 won the Masters and RBC Heritage back-to-back in April before shutting it down and heading home to Dallas as to await the birth of their first child. While Scheffler hasn’t announced publicly the date of the birth, he was on site at Valhalla Golf Club on Monday just as PGA Championship week is getting underway with a field of 156 golfers gathering for the season’s second major.
Scheffler said he told his father he didn’t want to leave, but he knew he had to honor his commitment to play this week.
“I’m called to come out here to do things to the best of my ability and so showing up this week especially with the forecast the next couple of days (for rain) I knew I had to be here today to get some practice in,” he said.
Making his way to the range early Monday afternoon, Scheffler stopped on the practice green for a few minutes to chat with Jon Rahm, a former World No. 1, a fellow Masters champion, and most importantly, a fellow member of Scheffler’s newest club. Rahm is a father to two young sons, Kepa and Eneko, and he and his wife, Kelly, announced in March that a third child is on the way.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C67huq2tLRq/?igsh=MWk0bHBlZjN4MDRyNw==
PGA pool reporter Jeff Babineau noted that on his way to sign a few autographs, Rahm was asked if he had given Scheffler any good tips on first-time fatherhood. Rahm laughed. “I’m sure right now, he welcomes talking about anything but golf,” he said.
Scheffler, who skipped the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in his hometown of Dallas and withdrew from last week’s Wells Fargo Championship, played the back nine with Sam Burns and Wyndham Clark. Scheffler is expected to speak to the media on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Speaking after winning the Masters for the second time, Scheffler said during his news conference, “What I’m looking forward to most, I think, about being a parent is being able to love my child like my parents loved me.”
“When it comes to having a kid, every single person says that it changes your life and it’s the most special thing in the world,” he added. “Marriage has been such a tremendous aspect of my life, I cannot even imagine what being a parent is going to be like.”
Now that wait is over and the real work begins.
Asked how long it would take before he put it a plastic club in his child’s hand, Scheffler said, “You know, it’s funny. I watch my nephew a lot. My older sister had her first child, and he turns two in June. Some people want to be like their parents and some people don’t want to be like their parents, and Hayes is a kid that wants to be just like his dad, and his dad loves grass, and I got a video from my sister the other day of Hayes following his dad around in the backyard. His dad was mowing the lawn, and Hayes was following him with his plastic lawn mower. And Andrew loves to play golf; Hayes loves to play golf.
“What’s my kid going to like? Who the heck knows. Who knows what they will pick up on. But whatever it is, you know, I’m just, I just want to be there to support him. Doesn’t matter what they are doing.”
Congratulations to the Schefflers.
Scottie Scheffler arrived at the PGA Championship after the birth of his son.
The new dad spoke with Todd Lewis (@ToddLewisGC). pic.twitter.com/vlOmOQVQt3
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) May 14, 2024