Just over 20 years ago, PGA of America Golf Professional Randy Smith was sitting in his office at Royal Oaks Country Club in Dallas, Texas, when he received a call from the club membership director.
“They said we have someone who wants to come out to the club and bring their little boy tomorrow,” recalls Smith, who was working with future PGA TOUR standout Justin Leonard at the time and knew he would need to fit the meeting between lessons with Leonard.
“I asked how old the kid was who was coming to meet me, and they said they thought he was 6 or 7. I said ‘What?’ My natural thought was here comes another kid who wants to be Tiger Woods. I said I would fit him in between lessons. I figured I’d go over like any PGA Professional should, introduce myself, pat the kid on the head, and in five or 10 minutes he’d be gone.”
A Life-Changing Meeting
What transpired in the next hour, when the PGA of America teaching guru Randy Smith met current World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler for the first time, proved life-changing for Smith and for Scheffler. As fate would have it, the Schefflers had just moved to Dallas from New Jersey. They had heard great things about Smith and his work with youngsters and golf prodigies.
“I was just finishing up with Justin when Scott and Diane Scheffler came over and said ‘This is little Scottie,’” recounts Smith. “He was a little guy, about 7 years old as I recall. They said he had his clubs with him and he started hitting balls.
“I started watching him a little bit. I asked him to do this, and he did it. I asked him to do that, and he did it. Every shot he hit was tied directly to a target. He would hit two or three balls at one target and then shift to another target. When the clubs got longer like a 5-iron or 6-iron, he started working the ball toward each target. He would hit a little draw or a fade right to the target. He hit his driver straighter and then he hit a few knockdowns with his irons. I was impressed with his control of the ball.”
After an hour and 20 minutes, Scheffler’s parents asked Smith only one question.
“They said, ‘Do you think Scottie would be happy here at the club (Royal Oaks)?’” recounts Smith. “I said we have a lot of good players here and a lot of tour players coming through all the time, so it would not only be a good place for Scottie to come and play and practice, but it would be a great place for him to learn as he grew up and developed.
“They joined the club the next day and Scottie didn’t miss many days at the club for the next several years.”
Strong Relationship is Born
Thus began the legend of Scottie Scheffler at Royal Oaks, and one of the closest relationships between instructor and player in recent golf history.
Fast forward 20 years and Scheffler is the No. 1 player in the world – at age 28. He now owns an Olympic gold medal and 13 PGA TOUR titles (as of early September) in a span of nearly 60 tournaments dating to his first victory in the 2022 WM Phoenix Open. He has twice won the Players Championship, and captured the Masters in 2022 and 2024. Such is Scheffler’s recent dominance that his last seven victories have come against fields that featured at least eight of the top 10 players in the world.
Suddenly, that 7-year-old introduced to PGA of America Professional Randy Smith two decades ago at Royal Oaks in Dallas is the hottest and most dominant player in professional golf.
And, fittingly, Smith — one of the hottest and most respected teachers in golf — is in the spotlight.
“Sometimes you’re at the right bus stop when the right bus comes along,” says the modest Smith. “I’ve been very fortunate to be at the right bus stop.”
Perfect Incubation Lab
The Scheffler family quickly discovered that Royal Oaks in Dallas was the perfect golf incubation laboratory for young Scottie, and that Smith was the ideal coach and mentor for the young prodigy. As a youngster, Scottie was a sponge, soaking up a priceless library of information and swing techniques from PGA TOUR players and top amateurs such as Leonard, Harrison Frazar, Kris Cox, Matt Weibring, John Rollins, Martin Flores, Colt Knost, Cody Gribble, Martin Laird and Ryan Palmer.
Smith remembers a young Scheffler sitting 10-12 yards away while the former national PGA of America Golf Professional and Teacher of the Year worked with Leonard, who went on to win the 1992 U.S. Amateur, the 1994 NCAA Championship, the 1997 Open Championship at Royal Troon in Scotland, the 1998 Players Championship and 12 PGA TOUR events during a storied career. Leonard, a three-time member of the U.S. Ryder Cup Team, also became an American hero when he holed a 45-foot birdie putt to defeat Spain’s José Maria Olazábal and elevate the U.S. Team to a come-from-behind victory in the 1999 Ryder Cup.
“Scottie wasn’t real chatty when he was young, but his powers of observation and imitation were out of this world,” explains Smith. “He wasn’t a big talker, but he was a big listener. He would sit and watch the older guys for an hour or an hour and a half, and then he would get his clubs and imitate them almost perfectly.”
The Next Tiger Woods?
Smith raises his eyebrows a bit when the inevitable comparisons between Scheffler and Tiger Woods emerge in the local media, comparisons that were resurrected in full bloom when Scheffler won the 2024 Masters and RBC Heritage in back-to-back weeks in April after coming from behind to successfully defend his title in the Players Championship in March.
Like Woods did for so many years, Scheffler wears a Nike golf cap, shirt and shoes, and he plays TaylorMade equipment – just as Tiger does. But while Scheffler now has 13 PGA TOUR wins (as of Sept. 1) and two majors, Woods’ portfolio includes 82 PGA TOUR victories and 15 majors, second only to Jack Nicklaus. Of course, Woods is also 20 years older than Scheffler, who earned his PGA TOUR card for the 2020 season by virtue of winning twice on the Korn Ferry Tour and being named the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year. Then, in 2020, Scheffler was the PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year while stockpiling Top-20 finishes. But he didn’t win on the PGA TOUR until 2022, when Scheffler was victorious at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, the World Golf Championships Match Play event and at the Masters.
If you’re keeping score, Woods was the PGA TOUR Player of the Year 11 times, won five Masters and won 14 of his 15 majors before the age of 42.
“I don’t pay much attention to the comparisons between Scottie, Tiger and anyone else,” admits Smith. “Tiger, obviously, was a generational talent and will go down as one of the greatest to ever play the game. Scottie is really just getting his career started. Nothing he has done so far has surprised me.
“If anything, Scottie got off to a slower start than I might have pegged him for as far as winning on tour. But I would never bet against him now. He’s a tremendous talent, he works very hard, and he has many, many years of competitive golf ahead of him.”
What put Scheffler over the hump and catapulted him from a good, solid PGA TOUR professional to a consistent winner? Smith believes a career turning point for Scheffler came when he was a Captain’s pick by Steve Stricker to represent the U.S. Team in the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
A Springboard to Stardom
“Scottie was kind of laying in the weeds, playing good golf and learning how to be a tour professional when he got the call as a Captain’s pick for the Ryder Cup in 2021,” notes Smith. “Getting the call for the U.S. Team was certainly a validation of what his peers thought of him as a player, and it was a big confidence boost.
“They were saying that this Scheffler kid was one of the best players in the United States. It really put Scottie over the top and made him feel like he belonged alongside the best in the game.”
Indeed, Scheffler used the 2021 Ryder Cup as a springboard to stardom, compiling a 2-0-1 record in his Ryder Cup debut that included a 4-and-3 whitewashing of Spain’s Jon Rahm in the singles that elevated the U.S to a 19-9 victory over Team Europe. Who knew that three years later, Rahm would be placing the coveted Masters green jacket on Scheffler’s shoulders for the second time in a symbolic passing of the torch from a former World No. 1 to the current No. 1 player as the sun set on the 2024 Masters at Augusta National.
Smith has traveled to hundreds of tournaments to watch Scheffler play over the years, and the PGA of America Professional who has shared his deep reservoir of knowledge with many PGA TOUR regulars and 16 college All-Americans still enjoys seeing his current star pupil succeed on the biggest golf stages.
“It’s been a great ride to see how far Scottie has come and how he reacts in certain situations. It’s been great for me to be a small part of it,” says Smith.
“What people may not understand is that Scottie really hasn’t changed much over the past 20 years. For example, when he had to stay over an extra day to close out his win at Harbour Town because of a weather delay (at the RBC Heritage the week after the 2024 Masters), he got on a plane and came right to a fundraiser in Dallas that he had committed to months in advance. He didn’t play, but he supported the event and signed a bunch of autographs. Then at 5:30 p.m. he came out to Royal Oaks and did a promotional shoot with the NetJets people. We were closed on that Monday, but he followed through with everything and was going strong until 8 p.m. or so.”
Smith and Scheffler were both looking forward to a little “down time” after Scheffler racked up four PGA TOUR victories in the first quarter of 2024. Plus, Scottie was eager to spend more time with wife, Meredith, after winning the Masters and RBC Heritage back-to-back, since the couple was expecting their first child around May 1.
“Scottie and Meredith will be great parents – it will be fun to see how their lives and priorities change with the little one,” explains Smith. “I told Scottie it’s all part of the life experience, and I know he’s looking forward to being a father.”
Hard Work Paves Path
How did Scheffler make the meteoric jump from that 7-year-old from New Jersey who showed up at Royal Oaks to meet Smith to the No. 1 player in the world? Smith says it was a long process replete with hours and hours of work on Scheffler’s part.