Team USA's Scottie Scheffler, world No. 1, blanked on first day of the Ryder Cup
Scottie Scheffler with his eyes on the hole during the 2025 Ryder Cup on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park on Friday. Credit: Dawn McCormick
As Scottie Scheffler walked from the ninth tee box during his Ryder Cup morning foursomes match Friday morning at Bethpage Black, a fan yelled at him and partner Russell Henley to improve their body language.
“You look like you lost already!” the fan remarked.
To which another fan replied: “They did.”
The comments perhaps were a bit rough for the world’s No. 1 player in Scheffler (and the No. 3 in Henley), but they would lose that hole to Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick to fall four down in an eventual 5-and-3 loss.
Things also did not go as planned in the afternoon fourball session for Scheffler, who partnered with J.J. Spaun in a 3-and-2 loss to Jon Rahm and Sepp Straka.
For whatever reason, the Ryder Cup has not been a breeding ground for success for Scheffler, who fell to 2-4-3 in his career at the event. He became only the third player ranked No. 1 in the world to lose twice on the first day of the Ryder Cup, joining Ian Woosnam (1991) and Tiger Woods (1999, 2002).
Team USA enters Saturday in a 5 1/2-2 1/2 deficit. To turn it around, they will need the 29-year-old megastar.
“I think if you ask Scottie, he would say he's excited tomorrow to go out and play his best golf,” U.S. captain Keegan Bradley said. “When you're the No. 1 player in the world, you have a day that maybe it wasn't his best, normally you bounce back. We are not worried about Scottie Scheffler. He's been in great spirits in the team room. He's eager to get back out there tomorrow.”
Scheffler, a four-time major champion, won six times on the PGA Tour this season, joining Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer as the only players since 1960 to win at least six times in consecutive seasons.
On Friday, he finally hit his first putt of at least nine feet on the 15th hole of his fourball match, draining a 22 1/2-foot birdie that could have cut the deficit to two holes with three to play. But Rahm answered with a 20-foot birdie to halve the hole.
Scheffler made a second straight birdie on the 16th, but Straka also birdied to halve the hole and win the match.
“We gave ourselves plenty of opportunities,” Scheffler said. “It really just came down to me not holing enough putts. We put up a good fight at the end. The guys just really turned it on on the back nine, but it really came down to us not taking advantage of the holes early in the match that we needed to.
“But overall it was a good fight at the end, and we'll come back out tomorrow.”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
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