Brandel Chamblee was genuinely baffled by one decision made by Scottie Scheffler during day one of the Ryder Cup.
Scheffler was nowhere near his best on Friday as the Europeans took control of the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, and the man from Dallas made a decision that left Chamblee bemused to say the least.
Scheffler’s form in the Ryder Cup team formats has been incredibly poor over the past four years, and that continued at Bethpage.
The 29-year-old world number one needs to bring his ‘A’ game to the golf course on Saturday because what he produced on Friday was simply not good enough.
Scheffler didn’t hole enough putts on day one of the Ryder Cup, but the rest of his game was nowhere near its imperious best either.
And if truth be known, he really didn’t help himself with one decision that he and his partner made.
Brandel Chamblee stunned by what Scottie Scheffler did on day one at the Ryder Cup
Scheffler will be hugely disappointed with how he played in both the foursomes and four-ball matches at Bethpage Black on Friday.
Now the onus is very much on him to improve and to lead the United States comeback on Friday.
However, Chamblee could not quite believe what he saw from Scheffler and his partner Russell Henley on day one of the Ryder Cup.
When speaking on The Golf Channel after the completion of play on day one, Chamblee admitted he did not understand why Scheffler took the tee shots on the even holes.
He said: “Europe did play well but I did think Scottie Scheffler, and Russell Henley hitting his tee shot at one, that was a big surprise for me.
“That was for two different reasons. Odds were more power prejudiced picks. If you go off one, you are going to hit five, six or seven drivers and play on the longest holes.
“The evens were more dog-legs to the left. So you see Russell Henley hit the first tee shot and he drives it left, so they don’t make birdie.
“Then Scottie Scheffler, who is a fabulous driver, but the fourth hole is a dog leg left and he drives it into the right rough.
“This was probably the biggest surprise in the morning for me early on. All the data says this is where your longest hitter should hit. All the data says that if they hit it left to right, it’s probably where they should tee off. Scottie was the longest hitter and is left to right.“
While Bradley and his team of data analysts may have informed the US team members which holes they were better suited to taking the tee shots on, the decision would have been ultimately left with the players themselves.
It would have come down to which tee shots Scheffler and Henley felt comfortable taking but the bottom line is that they both made the completely wrong decision.
Surely they will switch tomorrow in the Saturday morning foursomes.
Keegan Bradley should have made Russell Henley change before the Ryder Cup began
Henley was obviously pencilled in to play alongside Scheffler for quite some time.
However, Bradley should have had the courage to mix things up after the deluge of rain that hit Long Island on Wednesday.
Henley is one of the shortest hitters on the PGA Tour and Bethpage Black was simply too long for him on Friday.
The general consensus is that Bradley should have sat Henley out in the morning when the air was dense and the ball was not flying very far through the air.
The United States need a big turnaround on day two, but the fact that Henley has been selected to play the morning foursomes again by Bradley, alongside Scheffler, suggests that the US Ryder Cup captain has not learnt his lesson.
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