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FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — There’s a blown-up photo of Scottie Scheffler hanging in a corner of this sprawling Ryder Cup property. It’s from four years ago, but it feels like a lifetime away. The face is clean-shaven. The hairline is a little fuller. He’s raising his arms above his head in joy off the coast of Lake Michigan, an inexperienced 25-year-old with no expectation or weight on his shoulders. He had just shocked the No. 1 player, Jon Rahm, announcing himself to the world.
Then there’s the face live and in person on the 18th fairway Saturday morning in New York. That face is seasoned with a beard. It’s the face of a father. A face that’s supposed to win any time it tees off. But just 116 yards from the tee, down one, hitting what could strangely be the most consequential 18th hole approach of his career thus far, Scheffler’s face sank in disgust.
The lob wedge went short and right and so far down some knotty rough that analyst Nick Faldo called it a “calamity.” Right then and there, the match was over.
More than that, the shot cemented some unfortunate history. Scheffler had just become the first ever world No. 1 to start 0-3 at a Ryder Cup.
Oh no, more history. The next session, a desperate U.S. team played its biggest bullet — a Scheffer and Bryson DeChambeau super team — that lost 3&2. The fourball loss made Scheffler the first golfer to lose all four team sessions since 1967. But there would be no more contextualizing or explaining away what’s happened the past few years. No need for a larger sample size.
It was finally fair to say the truth: Scottie Scheffler has a Ryder Cup problem.
Scottie Scheffler, left, and Bryson DeChambeau lost 3&2 playing together Saturday. (Richard Heathcote / Getty Images)
Perhaps no golfer has such a complicated relationship with the event across such a short span of time. He owes much of the storybook narrative of his career to that 2021 week in Whistling Straits, the risky captain’s pick bursting out with a 2-0-1 record and taking down Rahm in Sunday singles when most viewers hardly knew who he was. It was the first sign of the legend to come.
Four months into the next season, he was the Masters champ, and had launched one of the great four-year runs in golf history with 19 PGA Tour wins, four major championships and an Olympic gold medal. Scheffler represents what the Cup can be.
Since that Sunday in Wisconsin, however, since he became an undisputed world No. 1 and a linchpin, he’s 0-6-2 in the Ryder Cup. He’s 0-4 in foursomes. He lost one match with Brooks Koepka in Rome by 9&7, a record margin that may never be broken. He even went 0-3-1 in the 2022 Presidents Cup. It’s all become a large enough sample size to acknowledge something strange is at play.
As Europe leads by seven points, a historic margin, and its biggest stars Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy are 10-1-1, a large chunk of the demolition can be boiled down to one team’s stars playing absolutely unbeatable golf while the other team’s leaders played beneath their standards.
“You need your superstars to perform at their highest,” European captain Luke Donald said, “and they’ve certainly showed up so far.”
Is Scheffler playing badly? Not quite. He lost Friday morning in part because alternate shot partner Russell Henley played horribly. Scheffler was just OK. Friday afternoon, Scheffler actually led the match in strokes gained, but Rahm stole the match with a seemingly cruel series of remarkable putts. In the Saturday morning foursomes loss to Viktor Hovland and Robert MacIntyre, he was underwhelming but again didn’t get any help from Henley. He and DeChambeau were 8-under through 16 holes. Fleetwood and Justin Rose were simply unconscious. So no, Scheffler is not the reason the U.S. is going to lose this Ryder Cup.
It is fair, though, to say Scheffler played well beneath his normal level. And it keeps on happening.
After each loss, Scheffler gave his polite handshakes, kept a brave face and supported his teammates. He tried to motivate his partners and never showed signs of the fire that visibly burns within him when he struggles.
Maybe the respectful politeness of team golf is part of the problem. Maybe Scheffler needs to let out steam, ranting to himself about missed putts or how a shot didn’t spin how he wanted. Because then it would be out of his system, and he could move on better than anybody. Sports psychologist Dr. Bhrett McCabe often talks with clients about it being good to let it out if you know how to actually let it go.
Or maybe match play just isn’t his strong suit. At its core, Scheffler’s transcendent greatness comes from his ability to limit mistakes and maintain his level across 72 holes. He is designed in a lab to play the “correct” shot each hole. Match play is ultimately about playing the most aggressive shot.
Or maybe, just maybe, there’s no scientific answer. The great Tiger Woods finished his career 13-21-3 and only won one Ryder Cup. Some theorize it was because his aura created timidness in his peers. Some said it was a lack of relatability. As Sky Sports broadcaster Ewen Murray put it beautifully on Saturday about both men, “Sometimes the best hunters prefer to hunt alone.”
Scheffler is the first player since 1967 to go 0-4 through the first four sessions. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
But in the moments after his fourth defeat of the week, Scheffler had no interest in hunting alone. He embraced DeChambeau, telling him he loves him and hearing it back. He wrapped his arm around his teammates and captains. When another team finished, he was the first to embrace them and try to fire them up for Sunday.
At one point, a Golf Channel reporter attempted to encroach on the team area aside the 16th fairway, and DeChambeau told him to back off. Scheffler, his eyes red and swollen, walked over to the reporter to shake his hand and try to make amends, but he told the reporter the team wouldn’t be doing any on-camera interviews.
Then Scheffler huddled up with his wife, Meredith; his caddie, Ted Scott; and Scott’s wife, Melanie. They bowed their heads together and took a few moments in silence. Scheffler wants to win the Ryder Cup so damn badly. For some reason, he just can’t figure out how.
(Top photo of Scottie Scheffler: Richard Heathcote / Getty Images)
