Scottie Scheffler acknowledges the crowd on the 1st green at Valhalla Golf Club on Thursday.
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Scottie Scheffler has been in the headlines all week. And why wouldn’t he be? The guy entered this week’s PGA Championship, the second major of the season, having won four of his last five tournaments (the other result was a runner-up) and has been so heavily favored by sportsbooks he’s been drawing comparisons to the dominance we saw during Tiger Woods’ prime.
Although this week we had another wrinkle to Scheffler’s story. You might remember that storyline at the Masters (and again the week later at the RBC Heritage) in which Scheffler would leave the tournament to be home in time for the birth of his first child. But that storyline never came to fruition, and Scheffler and his wife, Meredith, welcomed a baby boy, Bennett, on May 8.
After his win at Harbour Town, Scheffler sat out the Zurich Classic and didn’t play his hometown CJ Cup at Bryon Nelson. He took last week’s Wells Fargo Championship off as well, so he arrived at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., on Monday coming off three weeks at home (and, as a new father, likely little sleep).
“I told my son as I was leaving, I was like, I don’t want to leave you right now, but I need to,” Scheffler said on Tuesday. “I’m called to do my job to the best of my ability, and I felt like showing up Wednesday night wouldn’t really be doing myself a service this week when it comes to playing and competing in the tournament.”
But how would he respond? Would there be any rust? Could he win his second major in a row?
Well, here was his first tournament hole back, just eight days after his son was born.
Opening the PGA Championship on the 487-yard par-4 1st hole, Scheffler jarred his approach from 167 yards for an eagle. He used a 9-iron, landed it a few inches in front of the cup and it bounced in for a smooth 2.
“Oh! Hello, Dad!” Jim Nantz yelled on the broadcast.
Scheffler flashed a mischievous smirk to caddie Ted Scott.
“Can’t script it,” Nantz said. “You just can’t.”
Scheffler’s off to a good start, but he still has work to do. Scores are low, and Xander Schauffele is the early clubhouse leader after shooting a nine-under 62. You can follow the first round here.
As GOLF.com’s managing editor, Berhow handles the day-to-day and long-term planning of one of the sport’s most-read news and service websites. He spends most of his days writing, editing, planning and wondering if he’ll ever break 80. Before joining GOLF.com in 2015, he worked at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn., he resides in the Twin Cities with his wife and two kids. You can reach him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.
