Scheffler's struggles invite 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 continues to emerge: struggling in Ryder Cup pairings.

Scheffler followed up back-to-back defeats in Friday's foursomes and fourballs with the same again on Saturday.

The 29-year-old has now been beaten in all four of his matches in the alternate shot format - winning only six of 59 holes he has played.

He is the first American to lose in each of the first four sessions- and only th e third overall after European pair Peter Alliss and Peter Townsend.

"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 and he still hasn't figured it out."

Scheffler 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 Aberg on the Saturday - which left Scheffler in tears.

Consecutive defeats at Bethpage means American world number ones have lost seven 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 drive their Ryder Cup bid.

The United States have never been able to find such a 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, losing 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 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.

He will get the chance to continue that record against McIlroy in Sunday's singles at Bethpage.

"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 36% 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 fail to fire...again

Scott Scheffler and Russell Henley have suffered back-to-back defeats in foursomes at this year's Ryder Cup

Of course, Scheffler is not solely responsible for the defeats.

Foursomes partner Russell Henley did not play well in Friday's 4&3 beating by European pair Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick.

And, despite taking Viktor Hovland and Robert MacIntyre to the 18th green on Saturday, Scheffler and Henley still ended up losing.

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

Scheffler - whose game is based on consistent driving and metronomic irons - was unable to dig them out of trouble on either occasion.

He had no joy in the fourballs on Friday alongside debutant JJ Spaun as they were beaten 3&2 by Rahm and Sepp Straka.

In Saturday's fourballs, he partnered Bryson DeChambeau but the USA's most celebrated pairing could not keep up with an inspired Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood.

Scheffler said he and DeChambeau "played some good stuff" in a "tough match up" against Rose and Fleetwood.

"They made a ton of putts and really a tip of a cap to them - they played better than we did," he said.

While Europe only need three points for victory on Sunday, Scheffler bullishly insisted "anything can happen".

But there will continue to be an inquest into his pairings struggles - all the way up to Adare Manor in 2027 - even if the unlikely American "great comeback story" does happen.