It’s the sort of question that seems dumb to ask.
Is Scottie Scheffler — historically great World No. 1, good at everything, liked by everyone, long, straight driver, generational irons player, all-world chipper and underrated putter — tricky to pair up in team competition?!
Luckily somebody else asked it. And U.S. Presidents Cup captain Brandt Snedeker acknowledged that, yeah, in fact, it actually is.
I appreciated Snedeker engaging with the question. These team match-play competitions are, to an extent, flukey one-offs, to the point that you can issue a hand-wave dismissal of basically any result (“they just made more putts,” the losing team tends to say with a shrug), which is always tough to refute but also isn’t particularly interesting.
So Snedeker’s musings were a breath of fresh air.
“Yeah, it’s a challenge,” he said. “I think you look at the best players throughout history that have played in these events, it’s always been a challenge to kind of match them up.”
Let’s get specific with “best players,” or at least with one. The golfer whose Ryder Cup team match-play record has always defied belief is also this generation’s best golfer, period. In Ryder Cup partner play (taking out singles, in other words), Tiger Woods has a stunning record of 9-19-1. Phil Mickelson has a losing Ryder Cup record, too. The one Cup they played together? That’s still among team golf’s all-time disasters.
And while it’s still relatively early in Scheffler’s career, it is startling to see his record across Ryder and Presidents Cups: a combined 6-11-4.
So what explains it? Earlier this week I read an interesting piece by Shane Ryan in Golf Digest in which a former U.S. team analytics guy suggested that, like Team USA in international basketball, someone like Woods or Scheffler is always getting their opponent’s very best.
Snedeker offered a different theory, which is basically that it can be tough to find just the right partner for these alpha dogs.
“I think there’s an inherent — not fear for the guy they’re playing with, but a feeling of I’m letting him down. He’s the best player in the world. He’s so good at everything; no matter what I do isn’t going to be good enough,” Snedeker mused.
He knows the feeling firsthand, not from Woods or Mickelson or Scheffler but from his experience as a Ryder Cup rookie being paired with Jim Furyk in his prime.
“I kept thinking, No matter what I do, I’ll never hit it as straight as he does; this is not going to go well. So every time I hit a tee ball, I was freaking out a little bit,” Snedeker said.
Scheffler, as you’d expect, is not making excuses.
Asked about his team record, he said, “I think you can always play better.”
Nor was he willing to pin anything on his partners.
“I always feel confident in my partners,” he said. “If we didn’t step up on the first tee and feel confident, those guys wouldn’t be standing there with me. I’ve been confident in all the partners I’ve had across formats over the years.”
Still, Scheffler — like Snedeker — acknowledged that the recipe required in these one-off team match-play settings is undeniably “different” than week-in, week-out stroke-play requirements.
“It’s totally different than playing a regular tournament over the course of 72 holes,” he said. “Over 18 holes, anything can happen. Anything can happen in alternate shot. And best ball you can get away with a lot more; it’s all about making birdies.”
Asked to elaborate on the issue, Scheffler’s best working theory is that he may press too hard during these weeks.
“As a hypercompetitive person, I think sometimes I can probably try too hard,” he said. “If you look at my putting stats over the course of my career, arguably what made me struggle the most in 2023 was probably trying too hard.
“I think when you look at this format … maybe my record hasn’t matched up to what I think that it should be. Could it be trying too hard? I think that’s definitely a factor, for sure. For me it’s different in the sense that you also have a partner with you and you’re playing for somebody outside yourself, and that’s a lot different as well.
“Striking the balance between how much do you care, I think that’s something I’m always trying to figure out. For me, I think just trying less would be really important. It’s just one of those things that’s a lot easier said than done.”
So now the question becomes: Who does Scheffler play with? He has had several different partners across Cups, from Bryson DeChambeau to his good buddy Sam Burns to Brooks Koepka, J.J. Spaun, Russell Henley and more. It’s clear Snedeker has a personality type in mind for this week:
“Trying to find someone who can handle that [pressure] and be themselves and not try to be someone else is super important. These guys are elite athletes, the best players in the world because they’re unique. Scottie Scheffler, Tiger Woods, Jack, the history of these guys, they’re unique. So trying to find the best way of matching them personality-wise, matching them up with guys they feel comfortable with is our challenge as captains.”
One possibility is Henley again; he said he understands the intimidation factor but explained why he thinks their dynamic works.
“Because I’ve spent so much time with Scottie, and Scottie and Sam [Burns] have had me over to their house over the years since they’ve been on Tour and our wives are friends, I feel like I’m more comfortable with Scottie than I would be if they put me with Tiger,” Henley said.
But then we got a hint as to who may show up alongside Scheffler — someone who has been playing the best golf of his career this year and also someone very familiar with the World No. 1, both personally and professionally. Here’s how the beginning of Sam Burns’ Tuesday press conference went:
Q. Do you already know who you’re going to play with?
