Scottie Scheffler’s rivals get a huge boost as the unstoppable world No.1 reveals golf will soon become his FOURTH priority… after his new baby, wife Meredith and Christian faith

If there is hope for those in golf’s elite not named Scottie Scheffler, it may come from upcoming changes in the Masters champion’s life that will drop the sport to fourth place on his list of priorities.

There was a theoretical chance here this past week that he would run off the course if word got through that his heavily pregnant wife, Meredith, had gone into labor.

Such a reprieve never came for the chasing pack, but with his new baby due soon, Scheffler’s outlook will change.

It could open a door for rivals at a time when the two-time green jacket winner threatens to become the dominant player of his era, but he has issued a warning of sorts to those waiting for complacency.

“I’m certainly not going to take my eye off the ball on purpose,” he said. ‘I will go home and enjoy this victory. Will definitely enjoy the birth of my first child. But having said that, I still love to compete.

Scheffler dominated the field and is far and away the best golfer on the planet right now

‘My priorities will change here very soon. My son or daughter will now be the main priority, along with my wife, so golf will now probably be fourth (behind his Christian faith). But I still love to compete. I’m not going to take my eye off the ball anytime soon, that’s for sure.’

At the age of 27, Scheffler has already accumulated a remarkable body of work with three wins in the past five weeks and no rounds over par this year.

With nine wins since February 2022, including back-to-back victories at the Players Championship, the world No. 1 will go into the second major of the season at the US PGA Championship as the heavy favourite.

He is returning to be with his pregnant wife Meredith as they are expecting their first child together

The likes of Rory McIlroy will be pleased to hear that golf is sliding down Scheffler’s list

While his personality couldn’t be more different from Tiger Woods, aspects of his statistical dominance of the game are beginning to have a ring of familiarity. So does his will to win, which he illustrated in the wake of his four-shot victory at Augusta.

‘I was sitting with my friends this morning, I was a bit overwhelmed and I said to them, “I wish I wouldn’t win as badly as I did or as badly as I do”. I think it would make mornings easier.

‘But I love to win. I hate losing. I really do.

‘I feel that playing professional golf is an endlessly unsatisfying career. At the end of the day, I think that’s what the human heart does. You always want more.’