No. 1 Scottie Scheffler on the wrong end of another Ryder Cup blowout loss as US falls behind

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) — By himself, Scottie Scheffler is winning more often than anyone in golf.

In Ryder Cup foursomes matches, he keeps on losing — and losing badly.

Scheffler and Russell Henley were defeated 5 and 3 by Europe's Matt Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Åberg 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 Åberg 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 3-1 lead after the morning session.

Fitzpatrick and Åberg made seven of them in 15 holes. By the time Scheffler and Henley made their second, they were already 5 down.

“We just didn’t hole enough putts early,” Scheffler said. “We had some chances. I think the putts just didn’t 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.”

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 Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas. 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 Åberg 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.

“They played great, gave themselves a lot of chances and just was a little sloppy,” Henley said. “Didn’t make the putts I needed to and didn’t 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.”

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.

“We hit a lot of nice shots and made it hard for them today, which was good,” Åberg said.

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