He opened his round by dunking his approach shot from 167 yards out at the par-four first for an eagle two. Declarations of 'here we go again,' echoed around Valhalla, mingled in with the cheers. It was a sure sign that even the sleepless nights of new parenthood weren't going to put an end to the Scottie Show.

Scottie Scheffler scores an incredible 167-yard eagle at the Professional Golfers' Association of America Championship in Kentucky after just becoming a father.

Scottie Scheffler returned to the fairways for the first time since becoming a father on Thursday but for the World No 1, it was business as usual.

On the eve of this week's tournament in Kentucky, the 27-year-old announced in a heartfelt post on Instagram that he and his wife Meredith - whom he married back in 2020 - have welcomed their first child together.

After missing the Wells Fargo Championship at the weekend, Scheffler said he told his son it was hard to leave him but he needed to.


After only one round away from baby Bennett, the new father is already trying to justify his absence to his newborn with an opening four-under 67.

In the buildup to the Masters, it felt as if the dominant Scheffler was winning every other week with victories at The Players and the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

So naturally, he slipped into the Green Jacket at Augusta and backed it up with yet another win at Harbour Town the following week.

And as he took to the course for the first time since welcoming Bennett to the world, that feeling of inevitability lingered.

He opened his round by dunking his approach shot from 167 yards out at the par-four first for an eagle two. Declarations of 'here we go again,' echoed around Valhalla, mingled in with the cheers.

It was a sure sign that even the sleepless nights of new parenthood weren’t going to put an end to the Scottie Show.

Four more birdies sank but uncharacteristic bogeys at the fifth and 14th, saw him head into the clubhouse at four-under alongside defending champion Brooks Koepka.

It sits him five shots back of Schauffele in the lead at nine-under but not far back enough to diminish his threat.

The Texan is probably used to his peers looking to him for tips and tricks but after a new addition to the Scheffler household last week, the roles were reversed.

Many of his peers congratulated him after he rocked up in Louisville for his practice round Monday with the likes of Tiger Woods and Max Homa offering him word of wisdom on parenting, which included getting sleep and being nice to his wife.

But after even the sleepless nights of new parenthood couldn't keep him off the first page of the leaderboard, they may find themselves congratulating him for a different reason on Sunday.