LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Nothing upsets Scottie Scheffler.
do not have. A. Damn it. thing.
Nor will their first child, Bennett, be born on the eve of major championship week.
Scheffler’s ability to remain unaffected by everything going on around him has led to the hype surrounding him staying at No. 1 in the world for more than 80 weeks and winning golf tournaments at a pace once achieved by Tiger Woods in his prime. is also an important element. It’s his superpower.
That, combined with the lack of any cracks in his golf game, means there’s a good chance Scheffler wins the PGA Championship at Valhalla this week and sparks talk of the “Scotty Slam.”
Scheffler just won his second green jacket at the Masters last month and has won four of his last five starts. So he could set the golf world on fire with a win this week.
Scheffler missed last week’s Wells Fargo Championship and is at home in Dallas with his wife, Meredith, who gave birth on Saturday and hasn’t played in a tournament in three weeks.
If you think it affects him negatively, you’re not paying much attention, because nothing is going to upset Scheffler.
“I can’t really explain this feeling,” Scheffler said Tuesday of the fairy-tale state of her life right now. “It was a good time at home for me to reflect a little bit on my career and where my life has been heading. I married my high school sweetheart and I’ve always wanted to play professional golf, but right now I’m here. I was sitting there with my newborn in my arms and my green jacket in the closet. It was a pretty crazy feeling.”
While at home, Scheffler said he found his mind wandering about his life on and off the golf course.
“I think throughout my career I’ve learned a little bit how to compartmentalize things, and I think I’ve gotten better at it as my career has progressed,” Scheffler said. “I try my best to keep my private life out of the public eye. I think that’s what my wife and I like…almost having two separate lives.”
Scheffler was positive and upbeat about his first days as a father.
“It’s really crazy to see Meredith go through something like that,” he said. “I don’t know how to explain it as I look at the little guy coming out of Meredith. We waited…it was a surprise to us whether it was going to be a boy or a girl. So I was able to tell my wife it was a boy, and yeah, it was a wild ride.”
Scheffler occasionally reverted to contestant mode as he began talking to Meredith about the baby. After all, there’s a major championship to win this week.
“I think the human mind is always striving to be better, but I have a competitive spirit inside me that doesn’t reflect on me very deeply,” he said. “This week is major championship week and that’s what I’m practicing and preparing for to do my best in these events. Hopefully that trend continues.”
There is little evidence that this is not the case. Woods, one of the greatest players of all time, doesn’t think the Scheffler train will slow down anytime soon. And if there’s anyone who deserves recognition for greatness, it’s Tiger Woods.
“If his putting was bad, he’d finish in the top 10,” Woods said Tuesday. “If he makes a decent putt, he’ll win. He’s a great putt and runs away. He’s a good ball striker as well and is an all-around player.”
The world we live in is obsessed with projecting even more greatness from already great people, so I wonder how long this run of Scheffler’s will last, and if someday he will be able to do what people like Woods have accomplished. Everyone wonders if it will ever be comparable.
Schaeffler doesn’t have time for that.
“I don’t try to look too far ahead,” he says. “If you listen to the conversations around you, two months ago, they probably looked a lot different than they do now. All of a sudden it was like, “Oh, he’s going to win this many tournaments, or he’s going to do this and that.”
“I don’t really care. I might win a lot of major championships. [or] The rest of my career may be limited to two. I don’t really care about it at the moment. I want to be as prepared as possible for this week. ”
