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Good afternoon, Charlotte.
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Eagerly awaiting her PGA Tour prince, with brother Grant.
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A little shy at first.
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With mom, Lacey Berlau.
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Rickie Fowler stopped by on the way down the fairway.
Scottie Scheffler’s week has been full of big moments, thanks to a very special place and a very special person, both of them named “Charlotte.”
On Sunday, he achieved professional and personal fulfillment with a third major title, the PGA Championship, in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The world’s top-ranked golfer is the odds-on favorite to win his first Charles Schwab Challenge title at Colonial Country Club this week, but even if he does so, it might not be his best performance of the week.
Before he took off on his Pro-Am round on Wednesday, Scheffler made a little 6-year-old girl's day by granting her wish to meet him through a Wish with Wings request. Scheffler took an iron off the tee box on No. 10 and then walked over to greet a golden-haired cherubic in a pink dress who traveled with her parents, Logan and Lacey Berlau, and older brother, Grant, 8, from Fulshear, near Houston.
The little girl’s name is, coincidentally enough, Charlotte.
Charlotte Berlau also walked with Scheffler on Nos. 16, 17, and 18.
Charlotte was born in 2019 with congenital heart disease. Over the course of her first five years, beginning at just 6 months old, Charlotte has undergone seven heart surgeries. At 15 months old, she received a pacemaker after going into complete heart block, a condition in which the electrical signals that control the heart's beat are blocked, preventing the heart from beating properly.
She is today 100% pacemaker dependent, according to her parents. If her pacemaker isn't working, her heart doesn't work. That has happened twice, but through all of it, her family said she has remained resilient and not lost “her spunk.” Charlotte is active in dance and plays basketball and T-ball.
“This has been a wonderful experience,” said her mother, Lacey Berlau. “They have gone above and beyond in making sure we have a great experience.”
Charlotte was the center of attention for the 30 or so minutes we waited for Scheffler’s arrival time. Fort Worth Police officers stopped by, as did a Colonial tournament official and his wife. So, too, did PGA Tour player Rickie Fowler, who autographed his golf glove and gave it to Charlotte. He spoke to her for a few minutes.
“I’ve heard of him,” Fowler said to guffaws, after Charlotte told him she was there to meet Scheffler, a Dallas native who has played here every year since 2019, finishing second, third, and second over the past three years.
A Wish with Wings is a partner of Colonial Birdies for Charity. (So, too, is Fort Worth Magazine.)
“We just got her wish request three weeks ago and reached out immediately to [Charles Schwab Challenge tournament director] Michael Tothe,” said Judy Youngs, a Wish with Wings CEO. “As soon as Scottie committed, we were on it. [Tothe] got Scottie's manager involved and it went from there.”
Fort Worth-based a Wish with Wings is an independent 501©(3) organization not affiliated with any other wish-granting organization. Texas’ first wish granting organization was founded in 1982 for the purpose of bringing hope, happiness, joy and memories to Texas children diagnosed with life-threatening medical conditions. Over the course of more than 40 years, a Wish with Wings has granted more than 1,950 wishes to children facing an uncertain future.
Scheffler, 28, said he has a better appreciation of the challenges of parenthood since becoming a new father a year ago.
“She's such a bright spirit and she was a lot of fun to walk around with for a couple holes,” Scheffler said after his round. “She said she's a jazz dancer. I was trying to get her to teach me a couple moves out there. It was a ton of fun. It was good to be able to treat them to a few holes.”
Scheffler tees off on Thursday at 12:45 p.m. playing in a group that includes defending champion Davis Riley and Daniel Berger, who won at Colonial in 2020. The same group begins the second round Friday at 7:55 a.m.