Scottie Scheffler discusses perils of being a new dad during PGA Tour season

Scottie Scheffler has had a year for the ages. The 28-year-old won seven PGA tournaments this season, including the Masters. Scheffler raked in a whopping $54,228,357 in prize money, the most ever won in one season. In addition to his success on the PGA Tour, Scheffler also represented Team USA during the Paris 2024 Olympics and won a gold medal.

While driving to the second round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla, Scheffler was arrested, spending time in a jail cell and then later shooting a 66 for the round. Amid his dominant season, Scheffler and his wife Meredith had the couple’s first child, Bennett, in May. During a recent appearance on Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take”, Scheffler was asked if the new “dad strength” added any yards to his drive.

“No additional yardage. I would say, you know the first couple months of Bennett being alive, like when they’re born, you’re so nervous holding him that you’re gonna like somehow break your child so that you like tense up and hold him.” Scheffler said. Not only did Scheffler not get any more yards on his drive, but having a newborn was tough on the golfer’s body.

“It was actually really bad for my back the first couple months. Now that I’ve relaxed a little bit, it’s a little bit easier to hold him, but it was like clockwork. We get home from a tournament and two days in a rib would pop out or something like that holding them, bouncing on, like just soft little golf injuries.” Those “soft little golf injuries” did not seem to slow down Scheffler’s play this past season. With the PGA Tour season over, Scheffler turns his attention to cheering on the Texas Longhorns and the Dallas Cowboys while training for next year.