15 things you might not know about Scottie Scheffler
15 things you might not know about Scottie Scheffler
We witnessed another masterclass from Scottie Scheffler in securing a four-shot victory at Augusta National and a second Masters title. It was yet another machine-like performance from the 27-year-old, who entered the 2024 Masters as the heavy favorite and got it done—the first time since 2005 that the tournament favorite won the Masters. We were reminded of an awkward exchange in the media room ahead of the 2022 Masters, in which a European reporter stumbled over a question in which he asked Scottie Scheffler: “I’ve been asked a lot, like, what are you like? … I have no idea other than you being a very, very good golfer.”
Scheffler politely laughed off the question that day, recommending the reporter ask his wife. We’ve gotten to know Scottie a decent bit since 2022, as he has amassed nine PGA Tour wins and now two Masters. But you still might not know too much about him off the course.
1. Scottie Scheffler grew up in Texas but lived in northern New Jersey until he was 6 years old.
Though he’s grown up in Texas most of his life, he’s got strong Jersey roots. His mother, Diane, was high school classmates of the late actor James Gandolfini at Park Ridge High School. His father, Scott, attended St. Cecilia’s High School in Englewood, N.J. (where the legendary football coach Vince Lombardi was a gym teacher).
When Diane got a job as a COO of a law firm in Dallas, the Schefflers moved.
The new Masters champion recalled hitting shots in his backyard when asked about his Jersey upbringing during Masters Week. Scheffler called himself a Bruce Springsteen fan thanks to his Jersey roots.
2. The Schefflers borrowed money to join Royal Oaks Country Club in Dallas, mostly so that Scottie had a place to practice. He began working with his swing coach, Randy Smith, at age 6.

A young Scottie Scheffler—still wearing a Nike golf shirt—shown with his instructor Randy Smith.
Courtesy of the Schefflers
Scheffler is still a member at Royal Oaks and plays most of his golf there while he’s home.
Smith, a mainstay on Golf Digest’s 50 Best Teachers ranking and coach to Justin Leonard, Colt Knost, Harrison Frazar and other tour pros through the years, recalls meeting Scheffler when he was “no more than 3-foot tall.”
“I walked down, his parents were there and they introduced him,” Smith recalls, “and he took his hat off, shook my hand, then went back to hitting balls.”
Scheffler grew up dreaming of being able to hit on the side of the Royal Oaks range where the tour pros practiced. Now he does … watch the video below as we explore Scheffler’s life at home in a recent video.
Watch below:
3. Up until high school, Scheffler played many sports, including lacrosse, basketball, baseball and football.
Scheffler was short for his age until he hit a growth spurt his sophomore year of high school. He still loves basketball—telling Golf Digest in 2014 that it’s his favorite sport to watch on TV—and while shooting around, he once hit 30 3-pointers in a row.
He always knew, though, that golf was his sport. As he told our Keely Levins in 2018: “In high school, I narrowed it down to just basketball and golf. My whole life, I knew how much I loved golf. It was the one sport I always wanted to be playing, regardless of the season.”
4. Scheffler attended Highland Park High School in Dallas, the same high school where Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw and L.A. Rams quarterback Matt Stafford went (though Scheffler is younger than them).
Scheffler’s first PGA Tour win came on Super Bowl Sunday at the WM Phoenix Open—the same day when Stafford won his career-changing Super Bowl with the Rams.
Meredith was new to Highland Park her sophomore year, and recalls sitting next to Scottie in a math class. They started dating as seniors.
In the above “At Home” video we did with the Schefflers, Scottie calls Meredith his best friend. And she has clearly been a huge influence on him.
Ahead of the final round of the 2022 Masters, Scottie admitted that he was “crying like a baby” on Sunday morning, unsure if he could handle the pressure. It was Meredith who assured him to be himself and trust the game that got him in that position.
