Scheffler’s struggles invite unwanted Woods comparison

The comparisons were unavoidable.

Similarity can be drawn between Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler’s dominance at the top of the men’s game, which was insurmountable with her dominance as the world no.1 and her relentless victories at the majors and her PGA Tour success.

Another similarity between the two American superstars is still present at Bethpage: struggling in Ryder Cup pairings.

Scheffler won the foursomes and fourballs on Friday, and the same thing happened again on Saturday.

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

He becomes the second American to lose a match in each of the first four Ryder Cup matches, joining the late Peter Alliss.

In 1967, Englishman Alliss, who later gained fame as a broadcaster, lost four straight matches at Houston, playing for more than six years.

American journalist Alex Miceli claimed that his foursome play is “absolutely atrocious” and that there is no justification for it.

“There is no denying that he will eventually figure it out,” he said, “but still, in 2025, he still hasn’t figured it out.”

Scheffler made his Ryder Cup debut in 2021, but he lost in two significant matches in 2023.

Before being mauled by Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg on Saturday, Scheffler and Sam Burns suffered a record 9& 7 loss to Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton on Friday in Rome, which brought Scheffler to tears.

Every year, Europe has looked to a talisman to support its Ryder Cup bid, starting with Seve Ballesteros in the 1980s and Rory McIlroy in the present day.

Even Woods, not even Woods, has never been able to provide such a leader for the United States.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the 15-time major champion elevated golf to a new level, ensuring that he continues to be the game’s preeminent superstar.

Woods, however, won only 39% of his matches and was only a member of one triumphant Ryder Cup team.

He lost nine of his final foursomes, losing only four of them.

Why ? One theory is that Woods and Scheffler are unable to turn their unyielding behavior into a game in which they rely on their playing partner.

In all his pomp, Woods appeared to be a lone wolf. He won four of his six matches in the singles and lost two.

In either of his two singles matches so far, he has won against the Spaniard in Rome and defeated Rahm as an unheralded rookie in the 2021 victory over Whistling Straits.

In Sunday’s singles at Bethpage, he will have a chance to match McIlroy for the record he already has set against him.

In his pre-tournament press conference, Scheffler stated, “I’d like to think that I’m not difficult to pair with people.”

“I’ve worked with a few different partners over the years and had some success.” I would never fit into that category, in my opinion.

Another theory that Woods and Scheffler’s quartet struggles is that their team-mates can’t cope with expectation.

Scheffler, a four-time major winner who is always trying to highlight his bloke-next-door persona, has a less intimidating demeanor than Woods.

He does, however, share the same lofty standards as him when it comes to golf.

However, only 36% of the Ryder Cup field’s players have won since 1999, making up the top-ranked team.

They put a lot of pressure on themselves, and Scheffler claims that he doesn’t think about it because he thinks about it all the time, according to Miceli.

Scottie is a different kind of person than Tiger, who didn’t care that much.

Scheffler is, of course, solely to blame for the defeats.

Russell Henley, a foursomes partner, struggled against European pair Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick on Friday in a 4&amp, 3 loss.

And Scheffler and Henley still lost despite Viktor Hovland and Robert MacIntyre going to the 18th green on Saturday.

Henley has looked shaky in his Ryder Cup debut despite being third in a world ranking system with LIV golfers out.

Scheffler was unable to rescue them from trouble on any occasion despite the fact that their game relies heavily on consistent driving and metronomic irons.

Along with debutant JJ Spaun, he had no fun in the fourballs on Friday when Rahm and Sepp Straka defeated them 3&2, 2 respectively.

He and Bryson DeChambeau teamed up for Saturday’s fourballs, but Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood, the country’s most renowned duo, couldn’t compete.

Scheffler claimed that he and DeChambeau “played some good music” “as a difficult matchup” against Rose and Fleetwood.

They put in a lot of putts, and that is really what they did, he said. “They played better than we did,” he said.

An American victory on Sunday would make for a fantastic comeback story, according to Scheffler, who added that “anything can happen.”