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Golf World Breathes Big Sigh of Relief as Scottie Scheffler’s Absence Promises the Return of ‘Competitive’ Action

Published 05/03/2024, 10:11 PM EDT

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via Reuters

Back when Scottie Scheffler had the 54-hole lead in 2024 at the Masters, he had already announced that there were more important things to focus on than just winning the Masters. “Right now, the most exciting thing is not winning the Masters; it’s a baby coming pretty soon,” said OWGR No. 1. Nonetheless, he won the green jacket, continuing his winning streak; he even won the fifth signature event of the PGA Tour, the RBC Heritage.

Furthermore, he missed the only team-format game, the Zurich Classic, followed by the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. It looks like the player will not appear at the upcoming signature event of the tour, the Wells Fargo Champions, either. The golf community is left rather happy that he did not commit! The PGA Tour is headed to North Carolina for its sixth signature event. Scheduled for May 9 to May 12, the field of the championship held at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte will see some of the top players compete for a purse of $20 million.

Every PGA Tour member, who is eligible to compete at the Wells Fargo Championship has committed to play this weekend, except for OWGR No. 1 player Scottie Scheffler. He has not appeared in the field since the RBC Heritage on April 24. It looks like the resumption of his record run will have to wait another week, and the golf community is particularly happy about this decision.

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The official X (former Twitter) account of the PGA Tour has finally confirmed it. The post by PGA Tour Communications read, “The field for next week’s Wells Fargo Championship will be finalized after THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson. The only eligible player who did not commit as of 5 p.m. ET is Scottie Scheffler,’ confirmed his withdrawal.”

Although the PGA Tour does not offer the benefits of paternity leaves, the 2X Masters champion confirmed that he will unofficially be off the field until his first child is born. Upon being asked whether he would appear in the next major, in his last appearance, he said, “I’ll do the best I can [to prepare for the next major]. I’ll be spending a bit more time at home preparing, but I’ll take a break when the baby comes.” So, no one knows when Scheffler will be back!

The Golf Community thanks Meredith Scheffler!

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Scottie Scheffler suffered from serious putting issues as he began the 2024 season, which further elevated to such an extent that he once missed the near-foot putt and broke his club, leaving him frustrated at the lip-out. However, his entire gameplay changed the moment he switched from a blade putter to an all-new TaylorMade Spider Tour X putter. Scheffler has been on a winning streak ever since the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

However, for the golf community, it became a tad bit boring to watch the same person take over the field again and again—that was pretty much effortless. This left no chance for the other pro players to shine. Taking to this, some of them left comments like, “Tournament saved” and “Be nice to see someone else win for a change.”

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While one of them, expressing his excitement to watch another field without the OWGR No. 1 player in sight, wrote, “Thank goodness. We might have a competitive tournament,” the other lot thanked Meredith Scheffler.

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While players like Brian Harman and Jordan Spieth expressed their desires of not wanting Scottie Scheffler on the fields at RBC Heritage and the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, everyone knew that the only person who could stop him from playing was his wife, Meredith Scheffler. Taking to this, while one of them, in joy, wrote, “Thanks Meredith”, another, stating the obvious, commented, “Scottie’s wife is due any day!”

It looks like it is not just the pro players who have their celebrations in line for Scheffler being off the field; for once, the golf community too is in unison with them! Now the question is, with Scheffler gone, who will take away the trophy at the sixth signature event of the PGA Tour? And to top that, when will Scottie Scheffler be back? Stay tuned to find out!

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Written by:

Aheli Chakraborty

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Aheli Chakraborty is a Golf Writer at EssentiallySports. Armed with a Bachelor’s Degree in Literature, Aheli has actively covered many big events in the sport, including The Masters. She specializes in covering up-and-coming athletes like Charlie Woods and Ludvig Aberg, and she is always looking to answer her readers' most-asked questions through her writing! Aheli is also a bodybuilding fanatic and has contributed many niche pieces for ES' fitness coverage.
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Edited by:

Shivali Nathta

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