Struggling Scheffler faces unwanted Woods comparison

World number one Scottie Scheffler is making his third Ryder Cup appearance for the United States

The comparisons have been inescapable.

Scottie Scheffler's dominance at the top of the men's game - insurmountable as the world number one, ruthless wins at the majors and cleaning up on the PGA Tour - have seen parallels drawn with Tiger Woods.

At Bethpage, another similarity between the two American superstars started to emerge: struggling in Ryder Cup pairings.

After losing in Friday's opening foursomes, Scheffler has now been beaten in all three of his matches in the alternate shot format - winning only three of 41 holes he has played.

Another defeat in the afternoon fourballs means Scheffler is only the third top-ranked player to lose twice on the opening day of a Ryder Cup.

"His foursome play is just atrocious and there's really no explanation because you see the guy winning tournament after tournament after tournament," American writer Alex Miceli told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"There seems to be no question that he will finally figure it out - but here we are in 2025 after the first matches and he still hasn't figured it out."

Scheffler, 29, did not play foursomes on his Ryder Cup debut in 2021 but suffered two heavy defeats in 2023.

Scheffler and Sam Burns lost 4&3 to Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton on Friday in Rome, before he and Brooks Koepka suffered a record 9&7 mauling by Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Åberg on Saturday - which left Scheffler in tears.

The loss at Bethpage means American world number ones have lost five straight Ryder Cup foursomes matches - Scheffler following Woods in 2010 and Dustin Johnson in 2018.

How world's best struggle in foursomes

Europe have regularly looked to a talismanic figure - starting with Seve Ballesteros in the 1980s through to Rory McIlroy in the present day - to be a figurehead driving their Ryder Cup bid.

The United States have never been able to find that leader - not even Woods.

The 15-time major champion elevated golf to a new stratosphere in the late 1990s and early 2000s, meaning he still remains the game's pre-eminent superstar.

But curiously Woods featured on just one victorious Ryder Cup team and won only 39% of his matches.

In foursomes, he won only four of 14 matches and lost nine.

Why? One theory is Woods - and now Scheffler - are unable to transfer their single-mindedness into a format where they are reliant on their playing partner.

Woods was seen as a lone wolf in his pomp. In the singles, he won four and lost two of his six matches.

While Scheffler is seemingly more comfortable in the team setting, the Texan has also performed better when he is concentrating on his own business.

He has not lost in either of his two singles matches so far, beating Rahm as an unheralded rookie in the 2021 win at Whistling Straits before earning a half against the Spaniard in Rome.

"I'd like to think that I'm not difficult to pair with people," said Scheffler in his pre-tournament news conference.

"I've had different partners over the years and have had some success. I would definitely not put myself in that category."

Another hypothesis behind Woods and Scheffler's foursomes struggles is their team-mates being unable to cope under the weight of expectation.

Four-time major winner Scheffler, always keen to underline his bloke-next-door persona, has less of an intimidating aura as Woods.

But he does possess the same lofty standards where his golf game is concerned.

However, since 1999, the top-ranked player in the Ryder Cup field has won just 38% of their matches.

"They put a lot of pressure on themselves and as much as Scheffler says he doesn't think about it, I think that's garbage and he thinks about all of it," added Miceli.

"Tiger didn't care so much [about that] but Scottie is a different kind of individual.

"He thinks he needs to lead but doesn't want to be seen leading. It's a huge conundrum for him, I think."

Scheffler & Henley 'failed to fire'

Scheffler has trailed by at least four holes in each of his three career Ryder Cup foursomes matches

Of course, Scheffler is far from solely responsible for the foursomes defeats.

His partner Russell Henley did not cover himself in much glory during Friday's 4&3 beating by European pair Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Henley is fourth in a world ranking system skewed by the omission of LIV golfers, but looked shaky on his Ryder Cup debut.

Even Scheffler - whose game is based on consistent driving and metronomic irons - could not dig them out of trouble.

"Scheffler and Henley certainly failed to fire but the European performance was perfect," said former European Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson, who is analysing the Bethpage action for BBC Radio 5 Live.

"They made the Americans earn everything and they really couldn't come up with the goods.

"The Americans put on a little spell at the end there, they had a little bit of life coming but it just wasn't enough and it was far too late."

Scheffler was bullish afterwards, saying he felt his pairing did "some good things".

"We just didn't hole enough putts early. We had some chances. I think the putts just didn't fall," he added.

On Friday afternoon, Scheffler was unable to make amends in the fourballs alongside debutant JJ Spaun as they were beaten 3&2 by Rahm and Sepp Straka.

Again, Scheffler blamed his failings with the putter - the weakest part of his game - even though he did rally with a couple of late birdies.

Scheffler and his long-time buddy Henley have been given the chance to redeem themselves in the Saturday foursomes, with US captain Keegan Bradley insisting Scheffler remains in "great spirits".

Trailing by three points, the hosts are relying on some statement performance. Especially from their standout talent.