The Rise of Scottie Scheffler

By PATRICK KUENZEL

 

On a Sunday afternoon at the age of 3, Scottie Scheffler of Montvale, New Jersey, and his family were going to their relative’s house for a family BBQ. His dad, Scott, drove the family of six from their home to their relative’s Westchester, New York home. Scott’s brother, Peter, greeted the family outside the home. Scottie and his three siblings Callie, Molly, and Sara filed out of the car. As he rushed out of the car, Scottie brought a small golf club that his dad gave him a week earlier.

“Pete, watch this!” said Scott Scheffler. Dropping a plastic golf ball on the grass, Scottie stepped up to the ball and smacked it.

“His swing was so fluid and pure, he was only 3 years old for god sakes,” Peter Scheffler, Scottie’s uncle said of the swing at age 3.

Fast forward 22 years, Peter is now watching his nephew compete on Golf’s biggest stage as the #1 player in the world and…oh, a Masters Champion. When discussing how it feels to have a nephew who now owns a Green Jacket, Peter could only put one word together “surreal.”

The Rise 

At Scottie’s age of 6, his father was looking to move his family South to start his kids later childhood years and early teen years in Texas. Moving into one the suburbs outside of Dallas, Texas, Scott and his family settled in to a new community very nicely in the same neighborhood where Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones resides and former Quarterback of the Cowboys Tony Romo lives. It didn’t take very long for Scottie to find his home golf course. Royal Oaks Country Club, where he would spend hours a day perfecting his game. His parents would be at work all day while his three sisters were busy playing other sports.

By the time Scottie was 8, he met his current coach, Randy Smith, who is the club professional at Royal Oaks. Working with Randy is what jump-started Scottie’s young career. Playing in tournaments around the state of Texas, Scottie won tournaments with ease.

As Scottie attended Highland Park High School, his competitive nature developed across sports. The likes of Rams’ quarterback, Matthew Stafford, and LA Dodgers’ pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, attended the high school. Playing many sports early on, in high school Scottie made a choice to play golf and basketball.The competitive nature of Scottie is what drove him.

“The Scheffler’s are a bunch of hot heads, said Pete Scheffler.” When it comes to sports the Scheffler’s are also very “emotional.”

In his years of junior golf, Scottie was the best there was. “He won 90 out of 130 juniors tournaments and in all of those tournaments he played up in age. Winning those tournaments he was the #1 ranked high school golfer in the country. Not in the county, not in the state, in the whole country!!” said Peter Scheffler. 

Eventually, Scottie went to the University of Texas for college. According to his uncle, “he went to play golf at Texas with Jordan Spieth.”

Scottie played in the juniors circuit with Spieth for a couple of years prior to going to the university. With Jordan being a couple years older than Scottie, the two of them never got to play with each other. Spieth ended up leaving Texas early to turn pro. That didn’t bother Scottie because he  ended up playing all 4 years at Texas. Most good golfers leave college early to turn pro but Scottie had other ideas. It wasn’t because of golf that he wanted to stay all four years it was because he wanted a college degree. He played in two U.S. Opens while in school – even leading the U.S. Open at Oakmont in 2016 –  didn’t change his plans of leaving school early.

Once Scottie graduated from school he knew he was destined to be on the PGA Tour. Getting off to a slow start in his pro career wasn’t unusual for any golfers but for Scottie people were growing concerned about his early struggles. His uncle said of his early struggles, “with the exception of Spieth and Tiger Woods, most pro golfers come into there own around 27. Justin Thomas and all these other guys who really made it to the top of the golfing ranks, all did this around 27. It took them about 5 years to see whether your really that good at this.” After his slow start, Scottie at age 25 has climbed to a level that is compared to Jordan Spieth and a young Tiger Woods.

Being the #1 golfer in the world. Having won 4 times so far this year he has entrenched himself as the best player right now. Making over 10 million dollars so far this season, that is the most by any golfer. Recently Scottie has gained new sponsors by the likes of NetJets, which is a private airline company and his major sponsor Nike which provides him with all of his apparel.

What are people saying about his game?

I didn’t play my best out there, but just to have the support and appreciation from all the fans, I don’t think words can describe that. Congratulations to Scottie Scheffler on an outstanding win. It’s been a special run. pic.twitter.com/8BAMJKlGFY

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) April 10, 2022

Shortly after Scottie had won The Masters Tiger Woods congratulated him and called it “a special run”.

ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt goes in depth on Scottie and what he’s seen from him.

Relationship with his wife 

He recently married his wife Meredith who is by his side at all of his tournaments. Going through high school with her the two share a bond that is unbreakable.

A hometown win for Scottie Scheffler ??

All the emotions for the champion @DellMatchPlay. https://t.co/P4BWZRXeey pic.twitter.com/I7dMYB7xJj

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 27, 2022

So, whats next?

Still only 25 years young Scottie has a lot to look forward to. Winning The Masters exempts you to play on the PGA Tour and in major golf tournaments for at least 5 years. Staying in the present, Scottie plans on playing in all three major tournaments that remain this golf season. Plus, playing for the United States in this year’s Presidents Cup. As the future remains very bright for Scottie, he knows staying in the moment and taking it day by day will lead him up mountains that have only been reached by few.