FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) 鈥 By himself, Scottie Scheffler is winning more often than anyone in golf.
In foursomes matches, he keeps on losing 鈥 and losing badly.
Scheffler and Russell Henley were defeated 5 and 3 by Europe’s Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig 脜berg on Friday, the top-ranked Scheffler’s third blowout loss in three career foursome matches in the Ryder Cup.
Two years after being left in tears when 脜berg and Viktor Hovland routed Scheffler and Brooks Koepka 9 and 7 in Rome in the shortest foursomes match in Ryder Cup history, Scheffler watched another European duo pile up birdies against his squad en route to a after the morning session.
Fitzpatrick and 脜berg made seven of them in 15 holes. By the time Scheffler and Henley made their second, they were already 5 down.
鈥淲e just didn鈥檛 hole enough putts early,鈥 Scheffler said. 鈥淲e had some chances. I think the putts just didn鈥檛 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.鈥
Scheffler was back out for the afternoon session fourball matches with U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun. Henley did not play in the afternoon.
Scheffler has won six times this year, four more than anyone else on the PGA Tour, with two major championships. But he has trailed by at least four holes in all three of his Ryder Cup foursomes matches.
U.S. captain Keegan Bradley sent Scheffler and Henley out second, after . While the leadoff duo was the high-profile match of the morning, the one after might’ve appeared to be the best U.S. team.
Henley is No. 3 in the rankings, and he and Scheffler went 2-1 together last year in the Presidents Cup in Montreal.
Scheffler pumped his fist after rolling in a birdie putt on No. 2 to quickly tie the match after Fitzpatrick and 脜berg had won the opener, but there wouldn’t be much more to celebrate for the Americans. The Europeans ran off three straight birdies to win Nos. 4-6 to build a 3-up lead that ballooned to 5 up.
Scheffler and Henley did make consecutive birdies on 13 and 14, but the match ended on the next hole when they made bogey.
鈥淭hey played great, gave themselves a lot of chances and just was a little sloppy,鈥 Henley said. 鈥淒idn鈥檛 make the putts I needed to and didn鈥檛 really keep the momentum going with the ball-striking on the back nine, either. Hung in there as best I could, but they played great.鈥
Scheffler also lost 4 and 3 with Sam Burns against Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton in his other foursomes match in 2023, when he went 0-2-2. He didn’t play in either match in his Ryder Cup debut in 2021, when he went 2-0-1.
鈥淲e hit a lot of nice shots and made it hard for them today, which was good,鈥 脜berg said.
___
AP Ryder Cup coverage:
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation