If there is hope for those at the elite end of golf not named Scottie Scheffler, then perhaps it comes from forthcoming changes in the Masters champion’s life that will drop sport to fourth on the list of his priorities.
There was a theoretical chance here across the past week that he might run from the course had word got through that his heavily pregnant wife, Meredith, had gone into labor.
Such a reprieve never came for the chasing pack, but with his new baby due imminently Scheffler’s outlook will be shifting.
That might open a door to rivals at a point when the two-time winner of the green jacket is threatening to become the dominant player of his era, but he has issued a warning of sorts to those waiting on complacency.
‘I’m definitely not going to intentionally take my eye off the ball,’ he said. ‘I will go home, soak in this victory. Will definitely enjoy the birth of my first child. But with that being said, I still love competing.
Scottie Scheffler pulled on his second Green Jacket on Sunday after winning The Masters
Scheffler dominated the field and is far and away the best golfer on the planet right now
‘My priorities will change here very soon. My son or daughter will now be the main priority, along with my wife, so golf will now be probably fourth in line (behind his Christian faith). But I still love competing. I don’t plan on taking my eye off the ball anytime soon, that’s for sure.’
At the age of 27 Scheffler has already accumulated a remarkable body of work, with three wins in the past five weeks and no rounds over par this year.
With nine wins since February 2022, including back-to-back victories at the Players Championship, the world No 1 will go to the season’s second major at the US PGA Championship as huge favorite.
He is heading back to be with his pregnant wife Meredith as they await their first child together
The likes of Rory McIlroy will be delighted to hear that golf is slipping down Scheffler’s list
While his persona could not be more different to Tiger Woods, aspects of his statistical dominance over the game are starting to have a ring of familiarity. As does his will to win, which he illustrated in the wake of his four-shot victory at Augusta.
‘I was sitting around with my buddies this morning, I was a bit overwhelmed, and I told them, “I wish I didn’t want to win as badly as did I or as badly as I do”. I think it would make the mornings easier.
‘But I love winning. I hate losing. I really do.
‘I feel like playing professional golf is an endlessly not-satisfying career. At the end of the day, I think that’s what the human heart does. You always want more.’
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