Austin Smotherman must have wanted a fantastic start to his 2026 season. Unfortunately, the turn of events till now has been quite bizarre for him. Playing his 10th year as a professional, Smotherman missed three cuts out of his four starts. Surprisingly, playing in The American Express, the US golfer dropped an impressive performance where he finished tied for eighth. 

And if this was not enough, his recent surge in the ongoing Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches has turned heads. Taking a three-shot lead, the 31-year-old dropped a stellar 9-under 62 to make a strong case for his first win of the season. As the weather is expected to create some significant disruption, the tee times for the event have been adjusted. Now, play will start at 9:40 am ET. 

Notably, while it is still unclear whether Smotherman will be able to clinch the victory, curious fans are diving deep into his personal life, and the one question making the top of the charts is: Does the golfer have any children?

How many children does Austin Smotherman have?

At present, the 31-year-old star and his wife Jessica Smotherman have two children together. Their daughters are named Penelope and Adeline. However, in what was a surprising revelation, the Smotherman family is expecting a new guest. Jessica recently reported being pregnant with her third child. 

But this news has come both as joy and concern for the American golfer. While he is eager to welcome their newest member, Austin is also afraid that the baby’s due date clashes with the PLAYERS. And if that happens, the golfer will have to make a very hard decision. He will have to either choose to adhere to his duty, putting on the greens. Or, he can simply be with his family, sacrificing a huge career opportunity. Following his stupendous 62 this Thursday, Austin reflected on his dilemma. 

He said, “There’s so many what-if scenarios that we’ve discussed over the last two weeks. Her due date is Monday of the (Texas Children’s Houston Open) so hopefully I’m flying from the (Valspar Championship) through Dallas to go meet a new child, or who knows what, or have a baby that week and then hopefully still play. That’s kind of our goal.”

He further noted, “We know this is a crazy time, crazy year, where I kind of need to play everything. I’m hoping the baby doesn’t come, PLAYERS week and I’ve got to make a really hard choice there. But mind is free. I just want to go play golf, and the baby is going to come when babies come, I guess.”

Surely, this will be one of the toughest phases of his life when it comes. But together with his wife, the golfer will surely be able to push through the tricky times. After all, Jessica and Austin have been together since high school. Thus, she has seen it all. How Austin went step by step from the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour, how he lost his card and then reclaimed it within three weeks.

Austin Smotherman embraces simple strategy for breakthrough PGA season

While Smotherman is still trying to find success on the PGA Tour, his resume reveals how he has already found considerable success in the sport. He first started tasting success as a young junior in California. Later, he played four years at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Texas.

Back in 2014, he was an All-American Athletic Conference selection, and he repeated the same feat in 2016. Following that, he won in Mexico two years later on the then-PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. That earned him the Korn Ferry Tour status for the first time in 2019. 

After that, although he faced a setback, he secured his first Korn Ferry Tour win in 2021, and 2025 turned out to be his breakout season. Now, he is aiming to play safe golf and does not want to go for anything risky or flashy.

“As boring and simple as it can be. That’s what I want to do out there. I feel like if I ball-strike it good enough to have that kind of boring golf, (hit) a bunch of fairways ideally,” said Smotherman.

Austin further added, “If not, in the rough, figure out a way to get it in the proper spots to have some easy looks for up-and-downs and not force my short game too much (and) then I’ve made some putts. Trying to just shake it out, stay loose, and keep doing that.”

Now, as he looks forward to overcoming his mental mistakes in the coming days and has already posted one of his best performances in the 2026 Cognizant Classic, fans will wait to witness his future shots.