“I’m committed to playing this week” – New dad Scottie Scheffler says it was ‘fairly challenging’ to leave the house for Valhalla

Scottie Scheffler and his wife, Meredith welcomed their first-born son Bennett last week. The golfer introduced the newborn to the world with a social media post. Notably, the World No.1 golfer reluctantly left his family home in Dallas on Monday morning and arrived at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.

Scheffler arrived at Valhalla to practice ahead of this week’s 106th PGA Championship. The new dad was welcomed with high fanfare. Fans seemed pleased to see the Masters champion teeing up for practice ahead of the season’s second major, despite it being just days after his son’s birth.

Commenting on the same, Scheffler said it was “fairly challenging” to leave the house. However, the PGA Tour star noted that he is “committed to playing this week” and is excited to be competing. Speaking about childbirth, Scheffler said that he had “pretty high expectations” of it and it has been “pretty amazing.”

Speaking about his son’s birth and leaving his side for work, Scottie Scheffler told Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis on Monday:

“I had pretty high expectations of what I would feel like and I think those were far exceeded. I didn’t really know exactly what it would feel like. I thought it would be pretty great and it’s a pretty amazing feeling. You know, it was fairly challenging leaving the house this morning, but I’m here.

I’m committed to playing this week, I’m excited to be out here competing. I told my little man when I was leaving, ‘I don’t want to leave but I gotta leave’… I’ve called to come out here to do things to the best of my ability and, with the weather forecast the next couple of days, I knew I had to turn up today to get some practice in.”

Having arrived on Monday, Scheffler further noted it would’ve been equally “challenging” to arrive at the PGA Championship later. The 27-year-old said he wanted a couple of days prep before getting on the golf course on Thursday.

---

Scottie Scheffler on his break ahead of the PGA Championship

Scottie Scheffler has been on a roll this season. Notably, he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship and finished T2 at the Houston Open ahead of the Masters outing. He followed up the green jacket win with another victory at the RBC Heritage.

The World No.1 golfer, who’d earlier hinted at leaving Augusta midway through the tournament if his wife went into labor, chose to sit out the Wells Fargo Championship for the childbirth. Having spent over a week with his family in Dallas, the ace golfer noted the break was “more significant” than he’d imagined.

Scottie Scheffler said, as quoted by Golf Channel:

“It took a little longer than anticipated for him to come out of mum, but I was able to get some good prep work in… I took a more significant break than I would have, but I wouldn’t have traded it for anything as it was so fun getting to be at home and spend time with him and Meredith and be a dad for a few days. Yeah, it was a fun time in the Scheffler house for sure.”

Furthermore, the 27-year-old noted that he hasn’t taken his eye from the prize. Scottie Scheffler stated that he’s focused on the job at hand and is looking forward to lay claim to the Wanamaker trophy this week.