AUGUSTA, Ga. – On the eve of the 88th Masters, not one but two players are on baby watch.
Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns, best friends and roommates this week in Augusta, are each expecting their first child very soon. Scheffler’s wife, Meredith, is due at the end of the month while Caroline Burns is just days from her due date. Both players told Golf Channel that they’d withdraw from the Masters should they get the call.
“I think it’s more challenging when I’m away from the golf course,” Burns said Wednesday. “I think once you get out here, you’re so focused on what you’re doing to get ready to play this week. Off the golf course, it’s definitely been difficult. I miss Caroline; I wish she was here, but it’s been fun, too. I know she wants me to be here, so hopefully no baby this week. Hopefully stays in there until after Sunday.”
Added Scheffler earlier this year: “It’s going to be pretty wild. I don’t think it’s hit either of us quite yet but it’s an exciting time for us as a family. It’s been a pretty exciting last seven months or so and we’re looking forward to hopefully getting the baby out of there nice and healthy and with a healthy momma, and then we’ll go from there.”
While Scheffler already has one Masters victory to his name, winning in 2022, and is the favorite to win this year, Burns is coming off a T-29, his best finish at Augusta National despite a third-round 78.
“I think I played a lot better than what I finished,” Burns said of his 2023 performance.
Burns shared that he and his wife don’t know the gender, wanting it to be a surprise.
“It was kind of more of her idea in the beginning,” Burns said. “I kind of wanted to know, and then everybody we talked to that’s done it, it’s like, there’s not many surprises left in life, and I think that will be a pretty cool one.”
So, too, would wearing a green jacket to the hospital.
