Scottie Scheffler Had Brutally Honest Line About How Sad He Felt During Ryder Cup

Scottie Scheffler struggled at the Ryder Cup, winning just one of his five matches.
Scottie Scheffler struggled at the Ryder Cup, winning just one of his five matches. / Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Scottie Scheffler entered the Ryder Cup last week having just come off one of the best seasons a professional golfer can have. He won two major championships in 2025 and had six total wins, including one just two weeks ago at a tournament that served as a warm-up event for most of the U.S. team.

The No. 1 golfer in the world then struggled mightily during the first two days of the Ryder Cup, losing all four of his matches in which he was teamed up with other members on the U.S. roster.

Scheffler was finally able to get a point on the board Sunday when he beat Rory McIlroy in their singles match, 1-up. But by then the Americans needed a miracle to make up ground on the Europeans. And while they came really close to pulling it off, they ultimately fell short thanks in large part to their bad play in the first two days.

Scheffler spoke after the event about how bad he felt Saturday night, calling it "probably one of the lowest moments of my career."

Scheffler, who is always quick to stay positive, added that he was overwhelmed by the support his teammates gave him on Saturday night and how they helped spark him to get his win on Sunday, but it was clear that the best golfer in the world was pretty distraught after his disappointing 0-4 start.

“My emotions [Saturday] afternoon when the matches ended, I think it's hard to put into words how much it hurts to lose all four matches. To have the trust of my captains and teammates to go out there and play all four matches and lose all four, it's really hard to put into words how much that stings and hurts."

Here are Scheffler's full comments:

Scheffler is still the No. 1 player in the world and will likely continue to keep that spot for quite a while but the Ryder Cup is a different beast. Just because he's had so much success each week on the PGA Tour doesn't mean that dominance is going to carry over to the high-pressure team event that has a few different formats than what is played during the rest of the season.

Hopefully next time around in 2027 Scheffler will be able to be the dominant player he has been for the past few years and help lead his team to a win. If not, his Ryder Cup play could continue to be the one sore spot on what has quickly become a legendary career.


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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.