The only eligible player not in next week’s field? The World No. 1

During Masters week, and again at the RBC Heritage, there was a common joke on-site and on TV broadcasts: The only person who could stop Scottie Scheffler was his wife, Meredith.

You of course know this storyline by now. Scheffler and his wife are expecting their first child, and at his last two starts (Augusta National and Harbour Town) he said he would leave if Meredith, who didn’t travel to either event and was home in Dallas, Texas, showed any signs of going into labor.

But that never happened, Scheffler won both tournaments and further staked his claim as the No. 1 golfer in the world. The distance between Scheffler and World No. 2 Rory McIlroy in the Official World Golf Ranking keeps getting larger too, similar to the gap we saw when Tiger Woods was in his prime.

However, that potential leaving-the-tournament-last-minute storyline isn’t something we’ll hear about next week, when the PGA Tour’s sixth big-money Signature Event gets underway at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, N.C. Scheffler is the only eligible player not in the field.

Although it shouldn’t be a huge surprise at this point. Scheffler didn’t play this week’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson in the north Dallas suburbs, not far from his home, so of course he wouldn’t travel to Quail Hollow in North Carolina as Baby Watch nears its end.

It will certainly shake up pre-tournament odds, though. Scheffler was a lopsided favorite to win both the Masters and RBC Heritage, but with him out it should make it a more even playing field for the oddsmakers.

Tour pros shouldn’t be too bothered by his absence, either. Scheffler’s won four of his last five starts, and in the only one he didn’t — the Texas Children’s Houston Open — he tied for second, missing a short putt on the last hole that would have forced a playoff.

“I was talking to Meredith on the phone last night, and we were both kind of like I don’t think it’s officially hit us yet that we’re going to be parents,” Scheffler said on April 22, in his post-win press conference at the RBC Heritage. “I’ll definitely be leaning on my parents for a good amount of advice. They did a great job raising me and my three sisters.

“They’re still a big part of our lives. This will be their second grandchild and they’ll have their third one on the way right after that. My sister is pregnant, as well. It’s an exciting time for Meredith and me. It’s an exciting time for the rest of our family. We’re looking forward to this next journey in our life together.”

It’s unclear when Scheffler might play next. The week after the Wells Fargo is the second major of the year, the PGA Championship, at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., on May 16-19.