Scottie Scheffler found himself in unwanted company alongside Tiger Woods at the Ryder Cup on Friday, capping off what proved to be a thoroughly disappointing opening day at Bethpage Black.
The world No. 1 teamed up with Russell Henley to face Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick during the morning foursomes session. Later in the afternoon, the PGA Tour sensation partnered with J.J. Spaun against Jon Rahm and Sepp Straka in the opening four-ball match of the Ryder Cup.
Unfortunately, Scheffler suffered defeats in both encounters. His struggles perfectly encapsulated what had been a catastrophic opening to the Ryder Cup for Team USA.
Scheffler became part of an exclusive trio alongside Woods and Ian Woosnam, who have endured the ignominy of losing twice on Day 1 of a Ryder Cup as the world No. 1. Woosnam achieved this unfortunate milestone in 1991, while Woods managed it on two separate occasions, in 1999 and 2002.
The 29-year-old was matched with Henley, and despite high expectations that the duo could compete against Aberg and Fitzpatrick, the opposite unfolded as the Europeans dominated the Americans with a commanding 5&3 triumph. Following this setback, Scheffler’s foursomes record plummeted to a concerning 0-3.
After enduring such a catastrophic afternoon, Scheffler kept his post-round comments brief. Reflecting on his morning performance, the American explained: “I felt like Russ and I did some good things. We just didn’t hole enough putts early. We had some chances. I think the putts just didn’t fall.
“But overall, the guys we played, they played a really good round, and go back out this afternoon and see what we can do.”
After his loss with Spaun, Scheffler added: “We gave ourselves plenty of opportunities. It really just came down to me not holing enough putts. We put up a good fight at the end.
“The guys just really turned it on on the back nine, but it really came down to us not taking advantage of the holes early in the match that we needed to, but overall it was a good fight at the end, and we’ll come back out tomorrow.”
Despite Team USA trailing 5.5-2.5 heading into Day 2, American captain Keegan Bradley stayed upbeat about his squad’s ability to recover after a challenging opening day.
“The boys played really good this afternoon,” he said following the difficult day. “Europe made a lot of putts. Happy with the way we’re playing. Hopefully it’ll turn and our putts will go in tomorrow.”
Pointing to how Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay split their clash with Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, Bradley acknowledged that the outcome could boost the Americans going forward and that plenty of golf remains before a champion emerges.
“That was big. We’ve only played 28 percent of the points. This is first quarter. We’ve still got three quarters to go. I’ve got a lot of faith in my boys,” he concluded.
