Scottie Scheffler’s fame has reached new heights. The PGA Tour star is dealing with it

TROON, Scotland – Every day questions came, one after another, pressuring Scottie Scheffler about whether he would leave the Masters if his wife gave birth to their first child. The whole week focused on this emotional crossroads in his life. People and Us Weekly followed it as celebrity gossip. Hereby The Athleticswe even wrote a story about Scheffler taking the lead on Saturday night without his wife Meredith present next to him.

The baby would not be born for another month.

When Bennett was finally born in May, an ESPN reporter ambiguously broke the news with the hashtag #babyborn. The PGA Tour announced it on the tour website. Scheffler’s arrival that week at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, was like an appearance by the royal family.

Life is suddenly very different for Scottie Scheffler. A golfer who was once considered boring, dull and boring has somehow gone from a really good golfer to a comically famous human being. A player who spoke more than anyone on tour about the importance of keeping golf and life separate — about the essential nature of staying grounded despite success and generational wealth — is now in a different league of attention. His injuries and equipment changes are front-page news. His family is gossip fodder. A bizarre arrest in Louisville made him an international fascination. His rare weeks in which he finishes outside the top 10 at a major are treated as disasters.

Scheffler has been the world’s No. 1 golfer 96 times in the past 121 weeks. Still, it wasn’t until 2024 that he became a superstar.

“It was definitely a little bit trickier,” Scheffler said Tuesday ahead of the Open Championship at Royal Troon. “I think I will definitely continue to play better this year. Especially at tournaments, I think there is a lot more happening every day. I think I’ve almost had to lean into that more, just continuing to improve my rest so that it’s really soothing.

Scheffler has always done his best to keep his life small. He has a few major sponsorships, but keeps the numbers to a minimum. He doesn’t post his life on social media. Overall, he stays off his phone remarkably often.

And before this year, that was all fine. He was number 1 in the world. He was the 2022 Masters champion. But he was maybe the fifth most famous player in his sport. He could be normal. Do you want to do away with the occasional job interview? No problem. Aren’t you signing for a fan? Eh, he wants other people more.

But things have noticeably changed alongside the elevation of his game to a new level in 2024. He has won six major tournaments in his last ten starts, including a second Masters green jacket in April. Conversations around major championships have become, “Who’s your pick, you know, outside of Scottie?” And while his galleries were solid but unremarkable a year ago, Scheffler now has the largest following next to Tiger Woods because fans want to see the history.

There is now an element of responsibility in his public appearances. He seems to understand that.

“It’s a pretty cool feeling to be able to make someone’s day by signing an autograph or taking a photo,” Scheffler said. “It’s a pretty nice feeling. I’m trying to embrace that side of it more than not being able to sign everyone’s signature. People are angry because you can’t reach them all day. That’s not a nice feeling. I try to make someone’s day better by signing something or taking a photo.

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It’s fascinating how it’s slowly progressing, so easy to forget that his pre-tournament press conference at the Players Championship in March was filled with countless questions about how unknown he was, how for whatever reason he didn’t move the needle like others major players. stars.

But something happened in the second round of that week. He had won the Arnold Palmer Invitational the week before with a new putter, and there was increasing talk about how unstoppable he would be with a better stroke on the greens. Then that Friday, Scheffler suffered a minor neck injury, requiring massages before every tee shot for several holes. Suddenly, a dozen reporters rushed out of the media center to catch him on the back nine. It was urgent. It was covered in a way that golfer injuries are almost never treated. Of course, he came from behind to win.

His four-shot victory at the Masters was treated as an inevitability. He had Tiger-like odds as a 4-to-1 favorite, with constant talk about his upcoming son throughout his week. His greatness took on a new tone.

But it was that strange, terrible day in Louisville that sent Scheffler over the Rubicon. When Scheffler was thrown into a car and arrested before the second round of the PGA Championship, it was a viral, flashy moment. By the time he spent hours in jail, fans already had “Free Scottie” T-shirts and bought prisoner costumes in support. She loved him, all because of a bizarre incident.

How could Scottie Scheffler compete against the famous Royal Troon bunkers? Find out live on the Range.https://t.co/0LPQyHprlO@HSBC_UK | #LiveAtTheRange pic.twitter.com/92VGuKMV7u

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 16, 2024

He has won three more times since the Masters victory. When he finished tied for 41st at the US Open in June – his first time outside the top 25 at a major in 2.5 years – the reaction was met with concern.

How does someone who prides himself on keeping his life outside of golf low-key handle this new kind of attention? How does he keep it from ruining his career?

“I think this is something my wife and I are always working on,” Scheffler said. “When we are resting at home, what does it actually look like to be resting? That’s not necessarily sitting there and watching TV. There are a lot of different things we do to get good rest so that when we get back out there and playing and doing things, I have the energy to compete. I have the energy to – really the social energy to come out and interact with the fans and do these kinds of things – sit in the media center.

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This is now where Scheffler lives, for better or for worse. He is now an ambassador. He’s a celebrity. He has responsibilities and expectations. And sometimes it means strange interactions with strangers who recognize him.

“There’s always some funny stuff, because I think sometimes people don’t know exactly what to say, and sometimes they can be a little bit weird,” he said, laughing.

This week at Royal Troon, Scheffler will try to close out a historic year. He has a chance to be the first golfer since Arnold Palmer in 1962 to win seven tournaments by that time in July, and a second major in 2024 would help confirm how great he has been.

So yes, Scheffler has finally accepted that he is famous. He admits that his life is different and that isn’t going away. But don’t expect Scheffler to explain why people love him.

“I couldn’t tell you,” Scheffler said with a grin. “I think you should ask them.”

(Top photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)