Early life and amateur career
Scheffler was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey on June 21, 1996. His father, Scott, grew up in Englewood Cliffs, and attended St. Cecilia High School in Englewood. His mother, Diane (née DeLorenzo), grew up in Park Ridge. [5] [6] She attended Park Ridge High School, where she was a friend and classmate of James Gandolfini, later known for his lead role in The Sopranos . [7] Scheffler is of Italian descent on his mother's side and German descent on his father's side. [8] His grandfather was a veteran of the U.S. military who served in the Korean War. [9] Scheffler was the only boy among four children. His sisters are named Callie, Molly and Sara. [10] The family lived in Montvale, New Jersey, until Scheffler was aged six, when they moved to Dallas, Texas, in the wake of the September 11 attacks. [11] Scott was a stay-at-home dad, while Diane worked as a business manager at the law firm Skadden in New York City, [7] and later as a chief operating officer at the law firm Thompson & Knight in Dallas. [12]
Scheffler's interest in golf began at age three, when his parents gave him a set of plastic clubs and ball. [12] He practiced as a child by hitting ping-pong balls inside his home, curving the ball from one room to the next. [13] While living in New Jersey, Scheffler frequently asked his father to take him to the 9W Driving Range near the Hudson River. In winter, Scheffler's father shoveled snow from the range to allow him to still practice. [7] After the move to Dallas, his parents borrowed $50,000 to join Royal Oaks Country Club, [7] where Scheffler received tutelage under instructor Randy Smith, who coached Justin Leonard to a victory at the 1997 Open Championship. [12] At Royal Oaks, Scheffler also learned from professional golfers such as Justin Leonard, Ryan Palmer, Colt Knost, and Harrison Frazar. He watched them as they practiced, and from the age of nine would challenge them to chipping and putting contests. [14] He had prolific success at the youth level, and won 90 of the 136 tournaments he played on the Northern Texas PGA junior circuit, competing against the likes of fellow Dallas-area golfer Will Zalatoris. [15] [16]
Entering high school, Scheffler was barely 5 feet (1.5 m) in height, but experienced a large growth spurt and soon measured over 6 feet (1.8 m) tall. [15] [17] He played golf and basketball at Highland Park High School in the Dallas enclave of University Park. At Highland Park, Scheffler won individual state titles three years in a row (2012 to 2014), matching a record set by fellow Texan Jordan Spieth. He also had success in AJGA events, and won the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur, defeating Davis Riley 3 and 2. [18] Scheffler was the top-ranked junior golfer in the country in 2014. [15] He made his PGA Tour debut in May 2014, as a 17-year-old amateur at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. With his sister Callie caddying for him, he made the cut. He recorded a hole-in-one in the third round and ultimately finished at 4-under-par, in a tie for 22nd place. He was ineligible for the $60,000 payout due to his amateur status. [19]
Scheffler was then recruited to play golf for the Texas Longhorns at the University of Texas at Austin beginning in 2014. He won his first individual collegiate title in April 2015, the Western Intercollegiate held at Pasatiempo Golf Club. [20] Two weeks later, Scheffler won the Big 12 Individual Championship held at Southern Hills Country Club. [21] He was named 2015 "Phil Mickelson Freshman of the Year" and Big 12 Newcomer of the Year due to these performances. [22] He struggled with back injuries during his sophomore season, and recorded only one top-10 finish. [17] Texas Longhorns head golf coach John Fields said Scheffler was still adapting to his physical growth: "He's gone from 5-foot-2, 100 pounds in eighth grade to almost 6-foot-4, 200 pounds just six years later." [22]
In June 2016, Scheffler qualified for his first U.S. Open. He opened with a first-round 69 and held the overnight lead, [23] but shot a second-round 78 to miss the cut by one stroke. He was then selected to represent the United States at the 2016 Eisenhower Trophy in September, [24] and won the East Lake Cup held at East Lake Golf Club in October. [25] Scheffler again qualified for the U.S. Open in 2017, after surviving a 4-for-3 playoff to earn a spot in the field. [26] He and Cameron Champ were the only two amateurs to make the cut at the 2017 U.S. Open. [27] Scheffler finished as low amateur at 1-under-par, one stroke ahead of Champ. [28] He was also part of the U.S. team that won the 2017 Walker Cup, where he defeated Connor Syme in the Sunday singles. [29] Scheffler became a member of the Texas Cowboys in the spring of 2017, [30] [31] and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin's McCombs School of Business in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in finance. [17] [32]
Professional career
2020: PGA Tour Rookie of the Year
In his first start of 2020, Scheffler was tied for the lead alongside Andrew Landry after three rounds at The American Express. A final-round 70 saw Scheffler finish third, three shots behind Landry. [38]
In August 2020, Scheffler finished tied for fourth at the 2020 PGA Championship. [39]
On August 21, 2020, Scheffler shot a 12-under 59 at The Northern Trust. His round was the joint second-lowest in PGA Tour history and just the 12th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history. [40]
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Score | E | −1 | −1 | −2 | −3 | −4 | −5 | −5 | −6 | −7 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −10 | −11 | −11 | −12 |
Scheffler was named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for the 2019–20 season. [41]
2022: Ascent to world number one, first major title, PGA Tour Player of the Year
On February 13, 2022, Scheffler won his first ever PGA Tour title at the WM Phoenix Open on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff against Patrick Cantlay. [47] Three weeks later, Scheffler won his second career PGA Tour title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida. He won by one stroke over Viktor Hovland, Billy Horschel and Tyrrell Hatton. [48] Three weeks after that, Scheffler won the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, Texas, defeating Kevin Kisner in the final match. With this win, Scheffler moved to world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. [49]
On April 10, 2022, Scheffler won the Masters Tournament, defeating Rory McIlroy by three strokes. Scheffler became the fifth golfer to enter the Masters Tournament ranked No. 1 in the world and go on to win the Masters, joining Ian Woosnam (1991), Fred Couples (1992), Tiger Woods (2001, 2002) and Dustin Johnson (2020). [50] The victory was his fourth for the 2022 PGA Tour season, making him the first golfer since Arnold Palmer in 1960, and only the second ever, to win as many events including the Masters in that span of time to begin a season. It was his fourth win in his last 6 starts. [51] [52]
At the 2022 PGA Championship, he missed the cut by two, his first at the major since he turned pro in 2018. [53] On May 29, 2022, Scheffler lost the Charles Schwab Challenge in a playoff to Sam Burns after Burns made a 38-foot birdie putt. [54] At the U.S. Open, he finished T-2, one stroke behind the winner Matt Fitzpatrick.
Entering the 2022 Tour Championship as the leader in the FedEx Cup standings, Scheffler started the tournament in first place with a 2-stroke lead in the starting strokes format. He extended his lead to 6 strokes after 54 holes, but shot a 3-over-par 73 in the final round to lose the tournament by one stroke to Rory McIlroy. This tied Scheffler for the PGA Tour record of largest 54-hole lead blown. [55] [56]
In September 2022, Scheffler was named 2022 PGA Tour Player of the Year, earning the Jack Nicklaus Award for the first time. [57]
Scheffler qualified for the U.S. team at the 2022 Presidents Cup; he lost three of the four matches he played, tying the other. [58]
2023: Continued success, first Players Championship victory
In February 2023, Scheffler successfully defended his title at the WM Phoenix Open. He shot a final round 6-under 65 to beat Nick Taylor by two strokes. With the win, Scheffler returned to number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. [59]
In March, Scheffler won The Players Championship by five strokes and regained the number one ranking in the Official World Golf Ranking for the second time in the year. It was the largest margin of victory in The Players Championship since Stephen Ames won by six in 2006. [60] Scheffler joined Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win the Masters Tournament and The Players Championship in a 12-month span. [61]
As the defending champion at the 2023 Masters Tournament in April, Scheffler finished tied-10th. [62] At the 2023 PGA Championship in May, he posted a final-round 65 to tie for 2nd, two strokes behind Brooks Koepka. This result returned Scheffler to the number one spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. [63] Scheffler followed this with a 3rd-place finish at the 2023 U.S. Open in June. [64]
In the 2022–23 season, Scheffler recorded 18 consecutive top-12 finishes, a streak only bettered by Tiger Woods in 2000–01. [65] For the second year in a row, he entered the Tour Championship as the leader in the FedEx Cup standings, [66] which gave him a starting score of 10-under-par, and a two stroke lead over Viktor Hovland. He finished in a tie for sixth place at 11-under-par, 16 strokes behind the winner, Hovland. [67]
In September, Scheffler played on the U.S. team in the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy. The European team won 16.5–11.5 and Scheffler went 0–2–2, including a tie in his Sunday singles match against Jon Rahm. [68] In the Saturday morning foursome match, the European pair Ludvig Åberg and Viktor Hovland defeated Scheffler and Brooks Koepka 9 and 7, the biggest victory in an 18-hole match in Ryder Cup history. [69]
In December, Scheffler won the Hero World Challenge, an unofficial event on the PGA Tour with a 20-man field. He had finished as runner-up in both of the previous two years at the tournament. [70] [71]
2024: Nine-win season, second major title, Olympic gold medal, FedEx Cup winner and third-time PGA Tour Player of the Year
In March, Scheffler won the Arnold Palmer Invitational for the second time in his career. Scheffler ended the week at Bay Hill 15-under par, the lowest score since Rory McIlroy's 2018 win. [72] The following week, Scheffler won The Players Championship to become the first back-to-back winner in the event's history. Scheffler shot an 8-under 64 in the final round to overcome a five shot deficit, matching the largest comeback by a Players Championship winner at TPC Sawgrass. [73] In his next start at the Houston Open, Scheffler had a chance to win three events in a row. He was in the final group on Sunday and had a birdie putt from six feet on the 18th green to force a playoff. He missed the putt and finished in second place, one stroke behind Stephan Jäger. [74]
In April, Scheffler won the Masters Tournament for a second time in three years. He finished 11-under par for the championship, winning by 4 shots over Ludvig Åberg of Sweden. Scheffler, aged 27, became the fourth-youngest player to have two Masters victories. [75] Scheffler additionally joined Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to have multiple victories at both the Players Championship and the Masters. [76] One week later, he followed up his Masters victory with a win at the RBC Heritage for his 4th win in five starts. [77]
At the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club, Scheffler opened with a round of 67. On Friday morning prior to his second round, Scheffler was arrested after a traffic incident but was released in time to return to the course and shoot 66. However, in the third round, Scheffler broke his streak of 42 consecutive rounds of par-or-better on the PGA Tour with a two-over 73. He eventually finished the tournament tied 8th. [78] [79] [80] In his next start, Scheffler was in the final group on Sunday at the Charles Schwab Challenge. He ultimately finished runner-up, five strokes behind Davis Riley. [81] [82]
In June, Scheffler won the Memorial Tournament for his fifth win on the season. The win pushed him over $24 million in earnings for the year, breaking the PGA Tour season earnings record. Scheffler also become the first player since Tom Watson in 1980 to have won five times on the PGA Tour before the U.S. Open. [83] Two weeks later, Scheffler defeated Tom Kim in a sudden-death playoff at the Travelers Championship to claim his sixth win on the season. This made him the first PGA Tour golfer to win six times in a season since Tiger Woods in 2009, and the first to have won six times before July since Arnold Palmer in 1962. [84] [85]
As the number one player in the world rankings, Scheffler qualified as one of the four male golfers to represent the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics in golf. [86] On August 4, he tied the course record at Le Golf National with a final-round 62 to finish at 19-under and win the gold medal. [87] [88] Scheffler, who was six strokes behind the lead after the front nine, made six birdies on the back nine to win by one stroke over Tommy Fleetwood. [89] [90]
At the 2024 Tour Championship held at East Lake Golf Club, Scheffler entered as the leader in the FedEx Cup standings for third year in a row, starting again at 10-under-par. He totaled 30-under-par to claim the first FedEx Cup title of his career. [91] This made him the first player since Tiger Woods in 2007 to record a seven-win season on the PGA Tour, [92] [93] and earned him $25 million in bonus prize money. [94] [95] Along with the $8 million bonus for leading the regular-season standings and his $29 million official prize money, this brought Scheffler's total on-course earnings for the season to $62 million. [96] [97]
In December 2024, Scheffler won the Hero World Challenge for the second straight year. He finished at 25-under 263 to tie the tournament record at Albany Golf Course first set by Bubba Watson in 2015. [98] By doing that he equaled the record of most wins in a year. [99] Scheffler was named 2024 PGA Tour Player of the Year, earning the Jack Nicklaus Award for the third consecutive season. [100] [101]
Personal life
Scheffler met his wife, Meredith Scudder, in high school. They married in 2020. [102] On May 8, 2024, their first child was born, a son Bennett. [103] [104]
Scheffler is Catholic. [105] [106] His sponsor for his confirmation in the Catholic Church was Rocky Hambric, founder of Hambric Sports, a sports management agency which has had Scheffler as a client since he turned professional. [16] Scheffler attends Bible study with his caddie Ted Scott, who caddied for Bubba Watson for 15 years. When requesting Scott to be his caddie, Scheffler said "I really want to work with a Christian. That's how I try to live my life." [107] Scheffler and his close friend Sam Burns co-host an annual retreat with members of the College Golf Fellowship, a faith-based ministry. [108]
Scheffler appears in the sports documentary series Full Swing , which premiered on Netflix in February 2023. [109]
In August 2023, Scheffler became an investor in the Texas Ranchers, a pickleball team. [110]
On May 17, 2024, Scheffler was arrested at 6:20 a.m. near Valhalla Golf Club, the venue of the 2024 PGA Championship. [111] He was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer, a class-C felony, and three misdemeanors: third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic. [112] Scheffler was released on his own recognizance at 8:40 the same morning. [113] The charges against Scheffler were dropped on May 29. Both Scheffler and the Louisville Metro Police Department agreed to not pursue legal action related to his arrest. [114] Prosecutor Mike O'Connell stated that Scheffler's characterization of the incident as "'a big misunderstanding' is corroborated by the evidence." [115]
United States 
