They actually got paid for this?

Vaunted Americans prove to be no match for the spirited Europeans

Collin Morikawa and the Americans have had no answers for Europe (Michael Reaves/PGA of America)

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — The Ryder Cup has been played since 1927, and in all those years, a U.S. team has not played as badly as the 12 that comprise the team at Bethpage Black this week.

U.S. captain Keegan Bradley can discuss the strokes gained statistics or the fact that the Europeans made more putts than the U.S. But ultimately, the biggest separation was that the Europeans have heart, grit, determination and moxie — elements of which the U.S. seems clearly unaware.

Every two years, the world of professional golf comes together to compete for a cup that is just 17 inches tall. For the Europeans, winning it is akin to acquiring the holy grail.

On the other side, a victory for the Americans — which is becoming increasingly rare — does not hold the same value.

It’s almost laughable that these same American players, for the first time, are each receiving $200,000 with no strings attached. They respond with the worst performance ever in the Ryder Cup.

The last time the U.S. failed to earn 10 points in the 28-point era was in back-to-back defeats in 2004 and 2006.

In 2004, the U.S. lost 18½-9½ at Oakland Hills after trailing 11-5 ahead of the Sunday singles.

In 2006, the U.S. lost by the same 18½-9½ score at The K Club in Ireland, trailing 10-6 before the singles.

That last deficit was not insurmountable, as the U.S. learned in 1999 at The Country Club in Brookline, but the Americans could not summon up the necessary energy to get it done.

In both years, those U.S. teams were flawed with players that didn’t have the firepower of the 12 who made the trip to Long Island this week.

So, how is the total collapse of such a talented team explained?

Why did the U.S. not show up, instead posting a paltry 4½ points to the European’s 11½?

Needing only 2½ points to retain the Ryder Cup, it’s clear what the outcome will be on Sunday. Only the final score is in doubt.

No matter what happens on Sunday, the U.S. Ryder Cup team’s efforts have been set back by years, if not longer.

After Sunday, the Europeans will have won 11 of the last 15 Ryder Cups and will play the 46th Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland. The U.S. hasn’t won on the road since 1993.

What will the PGA of America do to make sure a competitive U.S. teams make it to the Emerald Isle in 2027?

It’s not time for a task force or dramatic change, but rather a clear-headed approach to determine the best path forward. Because it’s clear that the path and plan Bradley had simply didn’t work.

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Even with Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler couldn’t win a point (Michael Reaves/PGA of America)

Scheffler on verge of historic infamy

The best golfer in the world stood on the 18th fairway with a wedge in his hand and watched his ball miss the green that he absolutely had to hit. It was a shockingly poor shot at the worst time. The match — and for all intents and purposes, the Ryder Cup — was lost in the balance.

Scottie Scheffler isn’t the only American having a no good, very bad Ryder Cup. But the world No. 1 is the American who could least afford to go pointless in the first four sessions as the Europeans built a record-setting and unassailable seven-point lead (11½-4½).

For all of the comparisons to Tiger Woods that Scheffler has objected to over two sterling seasons dripping with accolades, trophies and cash, the one parallel he really didn’t want to draw out was at Ryder Cup.

For all Tiger’s greatness, his legacy in golf’s greatest biennial event was that of a below-average journeyman. Tiger was part of only one winning team in eight appearances and had a 13-21-3 (.392) match record.

Scheffler was part of one winning team as a rookie at Whistling Straits and through Saturday’s sessions is now 2-6-3 (.318) in three Ryder Cups.

It’s a startling failure from a guy who came into the matches on a run of 15 consecutive top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour. He was the guy captain Keegan Bradley could rely on the most as he sent him off in all five sessions. Instead, Scheffler became just the second American player to compete in each of the first three sessions of a Ryder Cup and lose every match (Xander Schauffele did that in 2023) and the fourth American to lose four matches during one Ryder Cup played on home soil (joining Steve Stricker in 2012, Raymond Floyd in 1983 and Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979).

No American has ever lost five matches at one Ryder Cup, home or away. Scheffler will need to beat or tie Rory McIlroy in Sunday’s singles to avoid that fate.

Scheffler got behind early by multiple holes in each of the first three matches and only in Saturday’s anchor foursomes with Russell Henley against Viktor Hovland and Robert MacIntyre did they fight back to square after 13 holes.

But MacIntyre’s dart on the par-3 14th put Europe back 1 up and Hovland’s 13-foot par save on the par-3 17th secured at least a half a point before Scheffler’s disastrous wedge on 18 sealed the fate of another lost session and had the Americans gasping for air.

“A calamity,” Nick Faldo said on the air after Scheffler’s misfired wedge. “What was that? You get that weird feeling in your gut and you just can’t make a follow-through. I’m still in shock from that wedge shot. You’re World No. 1, it was a pressure shot, and you missed the backboard on that one, didn’t you?”

Replied analyst Notah Begay: “I think that was a little thin with a little dose of hosel in there.”

Scheffler and Henley made six birdies in the alternate-shot format and got beaten by a pairing that out-putted them in making seven.

“Russ and I, we battled hard out there,” said Scheffler. “The guys we played against just played great. They did a good job. They holed the key putts. Obviously disappointed with the finish, but battled pretty hard this morning, and going to go out and do it again in the afternoon.”

Desperate for a spark, captain Bradley teamed up his two biggest stars — Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau — in the Saturday four-ball against Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose. It was a reprisal of Scheffler’s only successful Ryder Cup performance in 2021 as a rookie at Whistling Straits, where he and DeChambeau took the only half point ever off the team of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton and beat Fleetwood and Hovland.

The ploy didn’t work, as Rose and Fleetwood made 11 birdies in 15 holes and won 3 and 2. The match even included an altercation between Rose and DeChambeau regarding intrusion in Rose’s line and space on the 15th green before he made a 15-foot birdie putt.

“I’m really disappointed that this has to be the talking point at the end of a really cool match,” said Rose, whose 12 birdies in 16 holes with Fleetwood overwhelmed the six birdies Scheffler and DeChambeau made. “The level of golf was incredible.”

While captain Bradley’s team has been outclassed in every session — through some fault of his own sending out the dismal partnership of Collin Morikawa and Harris English twice to ignominious defeat in both foursomes sessions — it was the disappointment of his two lead ponies on Friday going a collective 0-4 that was crushing.

Had the U.S. gotten just one point each from Scheffler and DeChambeau on Friday, its 5½-2½ hole could have been a 4½-3½ lead and covered the mistake of sending out Morikawa and English. But instead, every U.S. misstep was magnified the first two days while Europe’s Luke Donald and his team never seemed to put a foot out of place.