Scottie Scheffler opened up on the special moments he shared with his wife, Meredith, and one-year-old son, Bennett, after sealing his Open Championship victory

Scottie Scheffler and his son, Bennett, shared a special moment on the 18th green(Image: Stuart Franklin/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)

Scottie Scheffler’s adorable son, Bennett, was the star of the show on the 18th green at Royal Portrush, stealing the limelight from his father after he won The Open Championship.

The one-year-old was set loose by his mother, Meredith, to celebrate with his dad after the Claret Jug was handed over. But he could not make the climb up the slope beside the green without falling down. Scheffler intervened, holding his son in one arm and golf’s most iconic trophy in the other.

It was an image fitting for a man who has his priorities in order. In his champion’s press conference, the world No. 1 reiterated that his faith and family are much more important to him than golf. To Scheffler, any shot or moment of genius in Northern Ireland this week was outshone by the priceless moments with his loved ones on the 18th green.

“He was trying to get up that hill on the side of the green. I don’t think he’s ever been up a hill that big before. I felt kind of bad for him. He just kept falling down. That’s part of the learning curve and growing up,” Scheffler laughed about his son’s misadventure.

“It’s very cool to have him here. He obviously has no clue what’s going on. He just wants to spend some time with me. I hadn’t really seen him much of the day. Yeah, it’s pretty cool.”

TV footage also showed Bennett playing around with a plastic golf club, and Scheffler hopes his son takes up golf, although he has a long way to go. He said he is much better at hitting furniture and other 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren than golf balls.

Scottie Scheffler shared the priceless moment with his son

“Sometimes he claps when he hits a golf ball himself,” Scheffler smiled. “We try to show him the sign for more food, but he thinks it’s just claps. It could have been the sign for more food as he was just hungry.

“I have a nephew that’s kind of obsessed with golf like I was at a young age. I think we were in the backyard at Colonial, maybe earlier than that, it was at my sister’s bachelorette party, so my brother-in-law came and stayed with me with his two kids.

“He was back there hitting golf ball after golf ball. Bennett loves older kids, so he looked at him and he was like, hey, I want to try that. He started swinging a club back and forth. I put a golf ball down, and he hit it. To be able to occupy a one-year-old with anything is probably a pretty good thing for them to be able to focus on.

The Schefflers made memories for life at Royal Portrush(Image: Stuart Franklin/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)

“He likes it. He doesn’t know what a golf ball is, but he’s either eating his golf club, or he’s hitting something with it, whether it be a piece of furniture or sometimes other kids. We’re working on it.

“I hope Bennett’s able to get into golf one day. The game of golf has taught me a tremendous amount. I feel like every day you go out and play golf you’re looking in the mirror, and I’ve met some of my best friends through the game of golf. It’s a very special game. You learn a lot of good life lessons by playing golf. I hope he can play one day, and I hope he enjoys it as much as I do.”

Scheffler and his wife have had plenty of opportunities to embrace on the 18th green in recent years, and reuniting with her is always the 28-year-old’s priority. He opened up on his gratitude for her support and selflessness.

“Every time I’m able to win a tournament, the first person I always look for is my wife,” he said. “Where we walk off each day is usually on the right side, and I didn’t see her at first. So I was like, oh, my gosh, where’s Meredith? What happened? She’s not there.

“As I kind of circled around the green, I saw my dad standing there. I was like, okay, perfect, my family must be down there, so I saw Meredith. She’s always the first person I want to celebrate with. She knows me better than anybody. That’s my best friend. It takes a lot of work to be able to become good at this game, and I wouldn’t be able to do it without her support.

Scottie Scheffler and his family celebrate the win

“She does a tremendous job of taking care of everything for us at home and giving me the ability to put in the amount of time and effort that I put into the game of golf because it’s a lot. It’s not a lifestyle that’s suited for everybody.

“We live a different lifestyle than some of our friends at home, travelling the way we do, but we’re very grateful for it. It’s a fun life for us, and being able to celebrate winning tournaments like this, I feel like the whole team should be [getting[ their name should be on the trophy with me because it really does take a village.”