Brooks Koepka during Saturday morning foursomes at the 2023 Ryder Cup. | Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler lost to Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Åberg in historic fashion in Saturday foursomes at the Ryder Cup.
Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler put forth one of the worst performances of their careers on Saturday morning at the Ryder Cup.
In fact, it was the worst performance in the 96-year history of the competition.
They lost to Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Åberg in foursomes 9 & 7, as the match ended on the 11th hole.
“Obviously, Scottie and Brooks were not on top of their game today,” Hovland said after the round. “So that’s how 9 & 7 came to be.”
Before Saturday’s drubbing, the previous record for the largest margin of victory in a Ryder Cup foursomes match was 7 & 6.
That score has been achieved three times, all by Americans, with the most recent instance coming in 2012. Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley defeated Lee Westwood and current European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald.
Koepka and Scheffler combined to shoot 7-over through 11 holes, while the Europeans were 6-under when the match ended.
Photo by David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images
Ludvig Åberg and Viktor Hovland celebrate after defeating Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler, 9 & 7, in Saturday morning foursomes at the 2023 Ryder Cup.
Hovland and Åberg finished it off with four straight birdies.
The Americans were all over the place, as they birdied just one hole in their match—the short par-4 5th.
But by the time Koepka and Scheffler made that birdie, they already were looking at a 4-hole deficit.
Åberg and Hovland won the first four holes, thanks to the Americans starting with two double bogies, a bogey, and a par at the par-3 4th.
At that par-3, which measures 172 yards, Åberg almost knocked it in for a hole-in-one. Hovland then tapped in for an easy birdie.
Koepka, meanwhile, knocked it to 18 feet, and Scheffler could not roll it in to halve the hole.
Nothing went right for the Americans, as they continued to lose the five of the next seven holes.
On the tricky par-4 8th, Koepka rifled one left into the creek while the Europeans safely found the fairway. Hovland and Åberg then made an easy birdie, while the Americans labored for a bogey.
A similar instance occurred on the next hole; the dogleg left par-5 9th.
After Scheffler found the fairway off the tee, Koepka then hooked Team USA’s second shot left into the water.
The Europeans, meanwhile, made another easy birdie as they walked off the 9th green with a commanding 7-up lead.
By then, all hope was lost for Koepka and Scheffler. Their game continued to abandon them on the 10th and 11th holes, the final two holes of the match. Again, the Europeans made birdies, while the Americans carded back-to-back bogies.
Saturday morning’s result is the biggest shock of the Ryder Cup thus far, and that comes a day after Team USA failed to win a match on Friday—the first time a team made it through an entire day without a victory in Ryder Cup history.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
