Why Scottie Scheffler’s wife could influence her husband’s Masters chances

After two rounds at the Masters, Scottie Scheffler finds himself in a familiar spot: atop the leaderboard.

While Scheffler is tied with Max Homa and Bryson DeChambeau for the 36-lead at Augusta, there is one other person who might impact his Masters: his wife, Meredith.

Meredith Scheffler is nine months pregnant with the couple’s first child, and this is the first major she’s missed since doctors wouldn’t clear her to travel to Georgia. The high school sweethearts were married in 2020.

“What’s missing? It’s difficult to describe. But yeah, it’s a bit weird,” Scheffler said Friday night after his second-round 72. “This is my first tournament without her being around in quite some time. Fortunately, Nike kind of takes care of my clothes this week so I don’t have to pick my own outfits. I did make breakfast this morning, which was an adjustment.

“She’s obviously my biggest supporter, and I definitely miss having her here. But it’s an exciting time for us in our lives, and yeah, fortunately, she’s still at home and feeling good, so we are grateful for that.”

But Scheffler is also Meredith’s biggest supporter. Even with his wife not due until the end of the month, Scheffler has vowed to withdraw from the Masters if Meredith goes into labor during the tournament.

He explained his priorities to ESPN’s Sean McDonough and Curtis Strange during Wednesday’s Masters Par-3 Contest.

“I think the first child wins … over many things in my life,” Scheffler said. “Maybe I should be more concerned. I don’t really know. People have asked us how our preparation is going for the baby. I feel like we are a little underprepared. The nursery is not quite ready and we’ve had some issues at our house the last few weeks. I think that’s the exciting part. I think we are definitely underprepared to be parents.

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“As far as her going into labor, I wouldn’t say I’m very concerned. We haven’t seen any of the early signs. But pregnancy is weird. It can happen at any time. Yeah, open lines of communication and she can get ahold of me if she needs to. I’m ready to go at a moment’s notice.”

Scheffler’s second round of 72 Friday was his worst round of the year, and yet it was still well below the scoring average of 75.08. Ever since his first PGA Tour victory at the 2022 WM Phoenix Open, he’s been on a ridiculous run of consistency that’s resulted in 33 top 10s and eight victories, including his first Masters in 2022. He’s the World’s No. 1 player by a wide margin over Rory McIlroy.