There is no question that how both teams’ biggest players performed went a long way in deciding the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, with Scottie Scheffler losing four matches in New York.
Europe used three players in all five sessions – Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm – with the Spaniard still contributing three points despite technically being the worst performer of the trio.
On the American side, Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Cantlay were Keegan Bradley‘s ever-presents. However, none of the three men managed to win two points across the week.
Scheffler’s performance seemed particularly surprising after he won the Procore Championship just before the Ryder Cup. It appeared to be a sign that he was ready to make up for his disappointing week in Rome in 2023.
However, it proved to be more of the same for Scheffler.
Why Scottie Scheffler continues to struggle in the Ryder Cup
The world number one lost every time he played over the first two days, with Scheffler’s winless run in the event extending to eight matches.
Scheffler did beat an exhausted McIlroy in the Sunday singles. But it is fair to say that getting the best out of the 29-year-old is a conundrum that the captain in 2027 simply has to solve.
Top American players struggling in the Ryder Cup is not uncommon. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson lost 43 matches between them.
And speaking on Straight Facts Homie, Colt Knost suggested the problem Scheffler seems to have which also impacted Woods at the peak of his powers.
“I really liked my argument for this, until you told me Phil has the most losses. But we’re just going to take that out, because he’s an anomaly. But Tiger and Scottie Scheffler, they have a lot in common actually. So when you watch them play day-in and day-out on the PGA Tour, it’s 72 holes, they wear you down, they don’t make many mistakes. They probably make fewer mistakes than anyone. Scottie is a guy who hits it on the fat side of the green, gives himself 15 to 20 feet every single hole, gives him birdie putt after birdie putt after birdie putt. Tiger was the same way. Those two and Jack Nicklaus are probably the three most conservative golfers we’ve seen,” he said.
“In the Ryder Cup, it’s an 18-hole sprint and playing safe, playing to the fat side of the green doesn’t work. I think that’s why both of them, their singles record is just fine. But the team part, when it’s best ball, even when it’s alternate shot, you’ve got to go, especially the way Bethpage was set up. It was a birdie fest. You’ve got to go, you’ve got to be insanely aggressive. But also, you just get beat. Scottie, he played the first four matches, the teams he played were 32 under par in 66 holes. They made 34 birdies. And two of that’s alternate shot, you’re just not going to win. Scottie’s team were 22 under, it’s not like they were chopping it up and making bogeys all over the place.
“They just got beat. But you are the world number one, you have to deliver, and like you said, their studs delivered. I took their four studs, I took Rory, Tommy Fleetwood, Rahm and Hatton, combined, those four, they earned 14 points. They retained the cup by themselves.”
The shot Scottie Scheffler hit at the Ryder Cup which was like nothing Colt Knost had seen before
Golf fans have grown used to seeing Scheffler not make mistakes. He is arguably the most reliable player on the PGA Tour, particularly when he has an iron in his hands.
However, he made a scarcely-believable error on the 18th hole of his match on Saturday morning. Having been put in the fairway and given a great angle into the flag by Russell Henley, Scheffler managed to miss the green altogether from inside 120 yards.
And when asked about that shot, Knost admitted that he was surprised as anyone to see the best player on the planet make that kind of error.
“Oh my god, I’ve known Scottie Scheffler since he was six years old when he moved to Dallas, Texas. I’ve played 1000 rounds of golf with him, seen him hit a million balls, I have never seen him hit a shot like that,” he said.
Europe cannot afford to get complacent, however. At some stage, Scheffler will almost certainly do what Woods was never quite able to manage and work the Ryder Cup out.
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