DALLAS — To the millions watching Sunday, Scottie Scheffler was the 25-year-old world No. 1 golfer. And now, he’s the newest Masters champion.
To Royals Oaks Country Club in Dallas, though, he’s just Scottie.
On Sunday, the club held a watch party with more than 100 members showing up to cheer on Scheffler.
“He’s just part of the group,” said Frank Voigt, a friend who plays with Scheffler often, said. “It’s not like Tiger Woods walking into the 19th hole at Royal Oaks. He walks in, we sit down, he’s part of the family.”
Voigt has known Scheffler and played golf with him since he was 7. He claims that’s how long he’s known he was going to be a pro.
“Who could expect that? But I mean not surprised,” Voigt said.
Scheffler’s family moved from New Jersey to Dallas when he was 6 and he won awards at Highland Park High School and the University of Texas at Austin before going pro.
“He always emulated them,” Voigt said. “He was just watch them and then copy them. It was amazing.”
“You could tell this kid had something special,” Brian Aube, who’s also part of Scheffler’s five-person golfing group, said. “He wore pants when kids don’t wear pants out here because he wanted to be like the pros.”
Scheffler’s referenced copying pros and his days at the club after he won Sunday.
“I grew up from so many guys out there just watching them and learning from them,” he said. “I wore pants when I was a kid at royal oaks because I wanted to play golf on the PGA Tour. I would wear pants and a collared shirt to like third grade class and get made fun of and rightfully so.”
Scheffler was emotional after the win, crying as he thanked his wife, coach and caddie.
“I teared up the first time I got my invitation in the mail. We were fortunate enough play here in college and I love this place,” Scheffler said. “If you were going to choose a tournament to win, this would be the golf tournament I would win.”
“I’m trying to hold it all in you know,” Aube said. “I’m not trying to get too emotional.”
“I’ve said this many times, he’s a better person than he is a golfer,” Voigt said.
Scheffler may have new hardware and a new jacket, but in the clubhouse at Royal Oaks, he’s still just Scottie.
“He might be the new thing going, but I can tell you what, he’s still got to come back here and give me a lot of strokes if he wants to play with me,” Aube joked.