BALTIMORE — Frank Kelly III and his family own a lengthy list of athletic accomplishments. The family has even been dubbed “the kings of lacrosse in the Baltimore area” by Cornell coach Connor Buczek.

This past week, the Kellys added “Scottie Scheffler’s Airbnb host” to a wide-ranging sports resume.

Scheffler, his 1-year-old son Bennett, wife Meredith and Meredith’s mom Michele Scudder spent the week living with Kelly and his family, including wife Gayle and son JK. The top-ranked player in the world needed a place to stay during the BMW Championship at Caves Valley and was connected to the Kellys, who are Caves Valley members and live near the course, through PGA Tour chaplain Brad Payne.

Scheffler, who is open about the importance of faith in his life, shares that perspective with Kelly. A pillar of the local community, Kelly played a major role in founding and growing the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) Lacrosse ministry.

Sam Burns, his wife Caroline and son Bear also stayed with the Kellys. Burns and Scheffler met as teenagers and grew a friendship through their shared faith. Now they spend almost every week on tour together. That included this week with the Kellys.

“It’s been great,” Burns, the 22nd-ranked player in the world, told The Baltimore Sun after his final round Sunday. “Super nice family, very welcoming. It’s been a lot of fun.”

A comfortable housing arrangement played into great weeks on the course for both Scheffler and Burns. Scheffler won the golf tournament at 15-under par, using a dramatic chip-in on No. 17 to close out the tournament. It’s Scheffler’s 18th career PGA Tour win, and his fifth this season.

Before signing his scorecard to make the victory official, Scheffler received a big hug from Burns outside of the scoring area.

“It’s not surprising,” Burns said. “He’s obviously the best player in the world for a reason, and he showed that again this week.”

Burns did well himself to finish in a tie for fourth at 10-under par. They both advanced to the Tour Championship in Atlanta, and it’s possible both players become U.S. Ryder Cup teammates again in September.

To Kelly’s surprise, the two world-renowned golfers also have a knack for lacrosse. Despite living in states not known for the sport — Texas and Louisiana, respectively — both played growing up. Scheffler told Kelly he stopped in about eighth grade to focus on golf and basketball.

“It’s funny, he said, ‘I could never figure out why with lacrosse equipment the glove ends at the wrist and the arm pad doesn’t go all the way down to the wrist, so there’s this four-to-six-inch space … people were always hitting me on my arm,’” Kelly recalled.

The group bonded over an unexpected shared familiarity with lacrosse.

Burns and Scheffler even made their way into Kelly’s backyard Sunday morning — just hours before their final rounds — to take a quick picture and play catch for about 15 minutes with Kelly. Their host debated whether he wanted to toss the ball around before their huge tournament round.

“I can just picture myself hitting Scottie Scheffler in the face with a pass,” Kelly joked.

That wasn’t an issue, as Burns and Scheffler were naturals, according to Kelly. Burns’ dad and brother both played college football at Louisiana Tech, and Burns played football growing up before focusing on golf in college at LSU. A background playing contact sports helped Burns become an enforcer during his lacrosse playing days. Burns used a long pole in Kelly’s backyard Sunday. Scheffler was a midfielder and more comfortable with a shorter stick.

“[Scheffler] catches it right away, cradles, throws it over to Sam, Sam catches it. They caught everything and threw everything perfectly,” Kelly said. “It was pretty incredible.”

The duo might need to incorporate pre-round lacrosse into their future routines, as they combined to make 11 birdies Sunday and both shot under-par rounds.

During the week, the group spent time in Kelly’s in-home sports bar, which features photos from the family’s many lacrosse accomplishments. Naturally, Burns and Scheffler had questions about the pictures and their rich history of winning.

Kelly is a former college (Cornell) and professional lacrosse standout, and his son JK won the 2025 national title with Cornell this spring. Kelly’s brothers — John, David and Bryan — are well-known in the sport, too, with David and Bryan winning national titles at North Carolina and John playing in three consecutive Division III championships in the 1980s with Washington College. Bryan now coaches Calvert Hall’s highly accomplished program, which won the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference title over Spalding in May.

Their sons have achieved plenty in the game as well. Notably, David’s sons, Patrick and Timmy, and Frank’s son, Stephen, contributed to the Tar Heels capturing a title in 2016, and Bryan’s son, Daniel, won a championship in 2022. Stephen also scored the first goal in Premier Lacrosse League history in 2019.

“Obviously, it runs deep in their blood in that family, so that’s been cool to hear their stories and get to learn more about it,” Burns said.

Kelly even gifted Bear and Bennett lacrosse sticks.

Scheffler and Burns enjoyed themselves during their free time, with Scheffler shooting hoops on the basketball court in Kelly’s basement in addition to playing lacrosse and eating crab cakes. They spent the majority of their spare moments parenting their young sons, though. Kelly saw their commitment to family up close.

“These guys are the real deal,” he said. “I lived with them for seven days and nights. When they’re home, they are fully focused on their wife and son. I would say 90% of the time they were in our house, they were holding their son or following their little 1-year-old around our backyard.”

Kelly was struck by how present the two 29-year-olds were during the week. In 2025, it can be hard to find people under the age of 30 not glued to screens. Burns and Scheffler are exceptions.

“In seven days, I never saw either one of them on a phone,” Kelly said.

Burns smiled when told about Kelly’s observation. Avoiding distractions is a priority for the two world-class golfers. Staying present, both on and off the course, helps the duo perform at a high level athletically and prioritize family time.

“Work at the golf course and then we get off, dad and husband mode,” Burns said. “Play with the boys and hang out.”

While Caves Valley isn’t a regular PGA Tour stop and doesn’t have a guaranteed return date in the future, Scheffler enjoyed his time competing in Baltimore.

“I have good memories here and it was a lot of fun this week,” Scheffler said when asked if he’d like the tour to return to Caves Valley, “but those decisions are not really up to me.”

He knows a competitive return to Baltimore is beyond his control. Scheffler also knows that if Caves Valley does get the chance to host a future PGA Tour event, he has a place to stay.

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