Xander Schauffele describes how his relationship is with Patrick Cantlay ahead of the Ryder Cup starting

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Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay have become two key players on the United States’ Ryder Cup team recently.

Everyone in the USA lineup is a world-class golfer, but they won’t all work well with each other, so it’s important to find the right pairings.

Schauffele and Cantlay played together at the last two Ryder Cups, so Keegan Bradley is likely to count on them at Bethpage Black.

Schauffele has now described his relationship with Cantlay and why they make a strong foursomes duo at team events.

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Xander Schauffele explains why Patrick Cantlay partnership works so well

So much more effort goes into selecting Ryder Cup pairings than people may realize. The captains and staff study hundreds of numbers to make informed decisions.

However, in some situations, the most important aspect of a pairing is whether the two players’ personalities mesh together.

PGA Tour legend Fred Couples came up with the idea of putting Schauffele and Cantlay together at the 2019 Presidents Cup for that reason.

“Fred Couples had this idea to put us together,” Schauffele explained. “I am someone who will joke around a little bit more. As much as we joke about me being internal, when I’m in the locker room, I like to tease guys and pick on people, and seeing people laugh makes me laugh.

“I can get Pat going a little bit, but he is not going to be the one to start that party. He is not yelling at JT across the room, unless JT did something terrible, like the thing he did on his head!

“So when Fred put us together in Australia, we did not really know each other too well. We have known of each other and definitely played a fair amount, but that brought us a lot closer.

“We operate the same way, we have a similar belief on how to play the game, and when it comes to alternate shot, we almost turn into one person. It would come down to how Pat and I would curve a shot into a pin, or hit a chip, a bunker shot, or a putt. We kind of synced up. It felt like it became pretty surgical.

“I remember in Australia we lost our match, we got smoked by Sung-Jae, he chipped in on the first hole, and he just teed off on us, and then Pat and I were so tired and they were like, ‘Do you want to go again this afternoon?’ And we looked at each other like, ‘Yeah, we would love to.’

“Pat was then in the lounge drinking six cups of coffee. I was eating these energy gummies. We were trying to get this caffeine in the team tent!

“We went out there, and in such Pat fashion, which can rub people off in a weird way at times, but he looked at me and said I may not talk to you this afternoon, but I am with you and I am pulling for you. We are going to get this done. I am just going to conserve energy and walk ahead.

“So if you don’t know Pat very well, just shoot straight with him and you will get a straight answer back. That’s how we operate.

“I think we went two down early in that match and ended up pancaking them and winning two or three up, and we just started picking apart the golf course one shot at a time. It was so fun. And then people started to realise we play really well together.

“We have had our ups and downs, but for the most part, we still really enjoy playing together. Pat is one of my good friends, we live close to each other, and we always look forward to playing on these teams together to see what we can muster up.”

Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay’s record playing together at the Ryder Cup

Schauffele and Cantlay have played together at three Presidents Cups and two Ryder Cups, so it would be a surprise if they didn’t get another opportunity at Bethpage Black.

However, Bradley might be keen to try something new because their Ryder Cup record is not as impressive as you may think.

Schauffele and Cantlay won both of their foursomes matches at the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, beating Rory McIlroy twice.

Two years later, Zach Johnson hoped that he could rely on them for another point or two at Marco Simone in Rome.

Instead, Schauffele and Cantlay lost 2&1 to Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood on Friday, and to Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton on Saturday.