Scottie Scheffler says overblown was the story of his plan to withdraw from last week’s Masters — leading or not — should his wife, Meredith, have gone into labor with the couple’s first child.
But, presumably, the arrangement is still in play this week at the RBC Heritage, where Scheffler is again leading after 54 holes — and the Schefflers continue to wait.
The subject had gained traction last Wednesday, when Scottie Scheffler was interviewed by ESPN during the Masters Par-3 Contest. There, he said if need be, he’d leave Augusta National and return back to his home in Texas.
“I think the first child wins … over many things in my life,” Scheffler said on ESPN. “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.
“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.”
Four days later, Scheffler won his second Masters, though the story had followed him. On Saturday, while holding the third-round lead, he detailed his plan. He had a way to get home.
He also had access to someone with a cellphone. That also made for a lighter moment in his post-round press conference, as the Masters bans most cell service.
“Yeah, I definitely have a way to get home pretty quickly,” Scheffler said. “We have somebody here that has access to their cellphone [here he turned to the Augusta National member moderating the press conference] if that’s all right.
“And, yes, I’ll be available to go home then whenever I need to.”
Did Scheffler think Meredith would really call?
“She better call,” he said.
Now, Scheffler is in a similar spot. Last Sunday night, he returned home, went to a local tavern with Meredith to celebrate, celebrated more at his house, then left for the RBC — where he leads again by one entering Sunday’s final round. That follows a brilliant display during Saturday’s third round at Harbour Town Golf Links, where he shot an eight-under 63.
Still, Scheffler said Tuesday he felt there’d been an overreaction last week to the story. That came in response to this question from a reporter: “I was curious how Meredith was doing. Has she shown any early indications?”
“No, nothing yet,” said Scheffler, who was not asked about Meredith on Saturday in his post-round press conference. “That’s why last week I felt like the story got blown up a bit too much. That’s why I feel like I don’t really talk about my personal life very much just because then I have to answer questions in here about it. It’s just a bit different. But yeah, no signs. No signs of early labor anything like that. But she’s feeling good. Very tired but feeling good, and I’m sure she’s probably getting pretty close to having that baby.”
Had he considered not playing the RBC, considering everything going on?
Scheffler said “not really.”
“I made a commitment to this tournament,” he said. “Like I said, I like coming here and playing the golf course. Yeah, I’m a bit tired right now, but I’ve got all afternoon today to continue to rest and get ready for the week.”
A reporter also wondered about his preparation for next month’s PGA Championship, the year’s next major. How did he think he would prepare?
The best he could, he said.
“I’ll be spending a bit more time at home preparing,” Scheffler said, “but I’ll obviously take a break when the baby comes. But we’ll see. I don’t know what life looks like. But up until when the baby comes, I’m going to play this week and then I’ll go home and basically just wait. We’re due at the end of the month. We’ll see when the baby comes.
“I don’t know. Like I said last week, golf now is — it never was my top priority, but I do love competing, and I put in the work. It’s going to take another notch down in priority when our child comes.
“My family still comes first, and we’ll see how the prep work goes.”
