Scottie Scheffler enjoys vacation with his wife Meredith and son Bennett ahead of The Open... as world No 1 relaxes by playing GOLF in Colorado

After a strong season on the golf course, and a turbulent time off it, Scottie Scheffler decided to get in some downtime in with his family - but hasn't been able to escape the links.

Scheffler, his wife Meredith, and his newborn son Bennett took in the mountain air in Telluride, Colorado over the weekend.

The reigning Masters champion still found some time to hit the course - snapping a pic with some friends and at a practice range with a scenic view.

2024 has been a rocky year for Scheffler - with plenty of ups and downs.

His arrest at the PGA Championship captured international headlines and his poor showing at the US Open led to him questioning his routine going into a major.

But outside that, he's been dominant this season - winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Players Championship, the RBC Heritage, the Memorial Tournament, and the Travelers Championship.

Those are all big money events, but the relentlessness of the schedule has led Scheffler to consider taking a pause - with the World No. 1 having not played since winning in Connecticut just two weeks ago.

'I'm obviously not going to skip Jack's tournament [the Memorial]. It's a tournament I love playing. It's a tournament that I'm humbled to be the champion at,' Scheffler said after the final round of the US Open.

'But, as far as prep for this week, it may not have been the best, but I knew what my schedule was at the beginning of the year. I had it set. That was always the way it was going to be. 

'I feel like going forward, I'll maybe do things a little bit differently in the weeks leading up to the majors, especially when you know it's going to be a challenging setup at a U.S. Open.'

Scheffler struggled at Pinehurst for this year's open. He made the cut on the number and only managed four birdies all week - all while never breaking par.

'When we come back here in a few years, I'll probably try to do a lot more work getting things going on the greens,' Scheffler said.

'I felt like I did a lot of my work around the greens this week, and maybe I needed to do more; the practice greens weren't the same speed as the course, and it was hard to find something similar.' 

Scheffler has never played in a tournament at Royal Troon and has struggled in past editions of the Open.

It's the only major championship that Scheffler has not finished within the top-3.

His best finish at golf's oldest tournament was back in 2021 when the tournament was held at Royal St. George's.

After The Open, there are two tournaments - the Barracuda Championship and the 3M Open - before Olympic play gets underway.

Scheffler was one of four golfers named to Team USA - alongside Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa.