How would you explain it? Voodoo. curse. magic.
What about the Ryder Cup, which made Ian Poulter one of the best golfers ever?
Or, what about the Ryder Cup, which gave Scotty Schaeffler a better fit for the Friday event at Beth Page Black and is no longer one of the greatest golfers ever?
We probably never know, but after another tragic day of Ryder Cup golf, Long Island had plenty of theories as Schaeffler’s worst nightmare unfolded once more.
At one point in the morning, the world’s number one was 12 down in his final 16 holes in foursome play. Barely reliable numbers for one of the best things to rock golf clubs. BBC Radio theorized that it could be the weight of carrying a partner. In American broadcasting, we assumed that it was the pressure to be number one in the world. And it comes back to the player Schaeffler is trying to emulate.
The only players who lose twice on the first day of the Ryder Cup are the world rankings Ian Woosnum (1991), Tiger Woods (1999, 2002)…and now Schaeffler himself (2025).
It’s not the emulation he wanted.
This means that the American World Number Ones lost five straight foursome matches in the Ryder Cup. A record dating back to 2010.
As wild and excited as the crowd was on the first tee before dawn, and people stuffing into the grandstands and clinging to the swell of the course, hoping to see the unique display of Bryson de Chambeau’s brown and brains, they set out for the second match, knowing that a relaxed Schaeffler had already placed de Chambeau’s Putt on the first green. The wind was on his sails.
But what followed was the center, at which point another putt passed his intended target was the best player on the planet, staring at his mouth with a bit of distrust. He and Henry only got two of the 15 holes they managed in the morning session, and they didn’t have a lead. Rather, they were able to chase the 5 at hole 12 and extend the par 5 13 days with birdies.
“I felt like Russ, and I did some good things,” he said by 15th Green.
“We didn’t make enough putts right away. We had some chances. I don’t think the putts fell.”
A few years ago, there was a sense that if Schaeffler understood his putting, he might be great. He somehow exceeded those expectations and is easily the case. On the tour, he rarely suffers less, not the best player in the world, but the best player Much more. According to Data Gold’s rankings, it is widely considered to be the most publicly published analytical model, and the distance from Schaeffler to the world’s second best player (RAHM) is the same as from Rahm to Chris Kirk, the 49th player in the world. The prophecy has come true. But the repetition was when he disappointed him here, on the biggest stage of team golf, and when his team needed the best player to step up.
If you’re trying to bother Scotty Schaeffler after the opening session from Hell, you’ll struggle with silver lining. Perhaps the best thing you can find is that at least he got an unexpected rest.
It did not help his cause.
Sent straight back to play with JJ Spaun in the first four afternoons, the American duo won the first hole, but then did not win another hole for the day. Schaeffler has played in both sessions but has yet to step into the 17th teebox. Once again, abandoning him missed an important attempt at 11, 12, 13, and found some form of John Rahm to bolster his own game to bolster his epic match between the two heavyweights.
Scottie Scheffler’s Ryder Cup record for nine matches (2021, 2023 and 2025) is currently 2 wins, 4 losses and 3 tiers (2-4-3). He’s 0-3 with foursome, 1-0-2 with fourball and 1-1-1 in singles matches.
3.5 points from nine games is pointless. And trying to understand it was that my thinking had changed to others who were suffering from similar fates.
Tiger Woods is perhaps the biggest golfer of all time, but he won in just one of his eight Ryder Cup appearances. He was not criticized. 13 wins, 21 losses, three bonds constitute an unmistakable, but inexplainable failure.
So it makes sense to consider flip sides. So why does the Ryder Cup make these great players merely human?
“We never tried to test and evaluate how it happened, or why it happened. It’s a very simple golf,” Ian Poulter spoke of his own notable record in his final cup at the Whistle Strait in 2021.
“I hate losing,” Paulter added. “When you play match play, you know what you have to do when you tee on the first hole. You can control the match. You can direct the match. You can play certain shots and try to put pressure on them.
Schaeffler is used to the latter scenario, but it seems uncomfortable for the former. Several times in the afternoon when Rahm and Sep Straka presented Schaeffler with the window of opportunity that Texan walked straight to the door. It was narrowing at times, but there were putts that I missed at 12. It was a level of inaccuracy you simply didn’t expect from his master of technology. When the sun appeared on Long Island on Friday afternoon and temperatures rose, Schaeffler couldn’t keep him cool.
“I’ve never really sat down to try and assess how it happens, or why it happens. It’s a very simple golf,” Poulter said.
“You will never play what-if games. You will not be looking at options around the green. This is a good place to miss. This is the wrong place. It is a single-minded focus on your target. It is really simplified.
“The easier it becomes, the easier it will be for my brain to understand those targets and move forward aggressively. Again, stroke play will put you in place. This isn’t the case here.”
Schaeffler is probably a prodder. Stylistically, it’s true, and the player is more devastating to his pure consistency and quality than to his flashy ones. Poulter famously has never missed attention, whilst the gentle, paralyzed Longhorn prefers a barbecue with his neighbors.
Tomorrow, Schaeffler has the opportunity to redeem himself. Even on Sunday, if the hosts can keep things competitive. That was probably never thought of, but he could have done it by channeling his inner Ian Paulter.
