Scottie Scheffler Chases Third Green Jacket With a Newborn Son and a Slipping Masters Leaderboard
Scottie Scheffler arrived at Augusta National this week as the world's number one golfer, a new father of two, and one of the heavy favorites to win his third Masters title. Two rounds into the 2026 tournament, two of those three things still feel entirely true — but the leaderboard is telling a more complicated story than anyone expected.
Scheffler was born on June 21, 1996, making him 29 years old — a fact that makes his career résumé all the more staggering. He has won four major championships: the Masters in 2022 and 2024, the PGA Championship in 2025, and the British Open in 2025. The one major still missing from his cabinet is the U.S. Open — and this week he is chasing what would be an unprecedented third green jacket.
The week began with a story that had nothing to do with golf. Scottie and Meredith Scheffler welcomed their second child, a boy named Remy, born on March 27 — just two weeks before the Masters began. Scheffler said wife Meredith gave birth and that they simply liked the name Remy, adding they did not have many good boy names to choose from. His first son Bennett was born in May 2024, meaning the Schefflers now have two boys under the age of two.
There he was on the Sunday before the tournament — Remy in a stroller being pushed under the famous oak tree by the Augusta National clubhouse, nine days old and already at his first Masters. Meredith and Bennett watched Scheffler warm up for an afternoon practice round, while Scheffler's parents, Scott and Diane, kept watch over baby Remy nearby. Scheffler called his wife a trooper for making the trip with a newborn and said having the family there made the week feel special.
In a detail that briefly became its own story, Scheffler mentioned that Bennett was a little jealous when Remy arrived — because Remy got two cookies and Bennett only got one. It was a glimpse into the very ordinary chaos happening behind the scenes of one of the most dominant professional athletes in the world.
On the course, though, the Scottie Scheffler Masters story this week has taken a frustrating turn. Scheffler carded a 2-over 74 in Round 2, finding the water on both par-5s on the back nine and squashing any positive momentum he had built. His quest for a third green jacket in five years is now seven shots behind leader Rory McIlroy heading into the weekend. He currently has 18 players above him on the leaderboard, meaning a historic comeback would be required over the final 36 holes.
The lack of competitive rounds heading into the week was always a concern. Scheffler had not played competitively since The Players Championship in mid-March, and Adam Scott in 2013 is the last player to win the Masters after having three weeks off. Scheffler withdrew from the Texas Children's Houston Open to be present for Remy's birth — a decision he made without hesitation, even knowing what it would cost him in match readiness heading into Augusta.
Scheffler said before the tournament that this place means a lot to him as a professional and as a golfer, and that he looks forward to sharing what Augusta National means to him with his kids as they get older. That sentiment feels even more poignant now as he watches Remy experience his first Masters from a stroller, while the father wearing the world number one ranking battles to keep his green jacket hopes alive for Saturday.
