Scottie Scheffler is the No. 1-ranked golfer on Earth. He is also a husband and father to two children under the age of three. While that first fact about Scheffler is as unrelatable as they come, the second, the one that carries immense responsibilities and its own set of pressures, completely different from those he faces on the golf course, well, that’s something millions can relate to.
Being a professional athlete, and in Scheffler’s case, being the literal best in your respective sport, while also being a family man and raising kids, is one of those things we regular folk can’t comprehend simply due to the fact that so few people on Earth experience such a thing.
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Every now and again, we’re given minor glimpses into the personal lives of these all-world athletes that remind us that we’re all just humans who actually do have shared experiences, and nothing humbles anyone on a more consistent basis than raising kids.
For Scheffler last week, that humbling and relatable moment came in the form of hand, foot, and mouth disease. Following Sunday’s final round in St. Louis, Scheffler revealed he had been battling the common childhood illness and the painful blisters that come with it throughout the BMW Championship.
Speaking to the media ahead of this week’s PGA Tour finale, the Tour Championship, Scheffler was asked if it was at all humbling that his life away from the course sometimes impacts his life inside the ropes.
He took his time and delivered an imperfect answer, which, when it comes to talking about raising kids and a work-life balance, a perfect answer does not exist.
“Humbling is probably not — not exactly how I felt. I feel like I’ve talked a lot about like I don’t — like I have — it’s almost like a double life essentially,” Scheffler began.
“I have a life out here where I play and compete. When we’re inside the ropes, it’s definitely different than my home life. There’s a lot of eyes on you. There’s cameras like pretty much, let’s say, six hours a day when I’m out here traveling…So when it comes to going home, I just go home, and I don’t feel any different. I have my life out here where I play and compete, and I have my life at home where I don’t really do a whole lot to be honest with you. It’s not that exciting.
“We have a great group of friends at home that I love to see. I’ve got great family. When I think about the fall and our off-season, we don’t really do a whole lot. Like you said, striking the balance between competing out here while also traveling with my family is something that I’m always trying to strike the balance because I work really hard at my sport and I’m trying to be the best husband, father that I can be.
“I think it’s always a balancing act. I’m at a point in my life where, yeah, it’s really hard having two young kids and taking care of them. I think anyone with young kids can relate, you’re just tired literally all the time.
“I think you want to enjoy the season because eventually my kids aren’t going to be able to be out here. It’s something that I talked about with — (Brian) Harman is somebody I talk a lot about this with. He’s like, ‘man, I’m jealous of you guys who get to travel every week with your kids.’ You take the good with the bad. Part of it is hard, but part of it is you’ve got to also enjoy it because it doesn’t last.”
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Here you have the best golfer walking the planet, who has earned over $20 million in less than nine months, dealing with the same everyday personal challenges every parent faces.
The balancing act of doing enough at work to provide, which Scheffler has accomplished given the commas in his bank account, but also giving it your all at home as a father is an unavoidable grind, both mentally and physically.
We’re all just trying to get by the best we can, even the guy with a couple of green jackets in his closet.