Betting favorite Scottie Scheffler has withdrawn from the 2026 Texas Children's Houston Open due to "family reasons", it has been announced.
Scheffler had been due to compete at this week's PGA Tour event in his adopted home state - held at Memorial Park Golf Course where he has three runner-up finishes over the past four years.
However, Golf Channel's Brentley Romine was the first to report the World No.1 and his wife Meredith are expecting their second child very soon and therefore Scheffler chose to exit the tournament before play begins in a couple of days' time.
As a result of the four-time Major winner's withdrawal, nine-time PGA Tour champion Matt Kuchar will now tee it up in the 135-man event instead. Chris Gotterup is now the highest-ranked player in the field as World No.10.
With a baby brother or sister due for Bennett Scheffler - who was born on May 8, 2024 - the soon-to-be father of two is now not expected to play again until The Masters in a little over a fortnight.
Scottie Scheffler has withdrawn from the Houston Open. Though the PGA Tour didn't provide a reason, have confirmed that it's not injury-related but rather the Schefflers are set to welcome their second child.Great news for the world No. 1 ahead of the Masters in two weeks. pic.twitter.com/HkQf0FxVLpMarch 24, 2026
There, Scheffler will pursue a third Green Jacket off the back of a mildly turbulent preparation period.
His most recent start was at The Players where he failed to overcome a relatively disappointing first round and ended up finishing T22nd at TPC Sawgrass.
Before that, Scheffler saw his 18 consecutive top-10 finishes come to a halt via a T12th at the Genesis Invitational before a T24th result at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
As a result, Scheffler's last top-10 was at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in mid-February (T4th). The 29-year-old was T3rd at the WM Phoenix Open and claimed a runaway victory in his opening appearance of the year at the American Express.
Meanwhile, Scheffler was not the only early exit from the Houston Open thanks to six further withdrawals since Sunday.
Field updates for the Texas Children's Houston Open:Scottie Scheffler (WD), Matt Kuchar (IN)Bud Cauley (WD), Seamus Power (IN)March 24, 2026
Austin Smotherman, Cam Davis, Ryo Hisatsune, Michael Kim, Matt McCarty and Bud Cauley have all chosen to give this week a miss, with the group replaced by Doug Ghim, Danny Willett, Jimmy Stanger, Paul Waring and Jesper Svensson.
Plus, due to the inclusion of Brooks Koepka, Andrew Putnam and Kris Ventura were the pros added to the field, taking the total number of players up to 135.
