Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler suffer historic defeat to Viktor Hovland and rookie Ludwig Aberg at the 2023 Ryder Cup
In one of the most one-sided matches in Ryder Cup history, Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler suffered a heavy defeat of 9 and 7 in the foursome match against Ludvig Åberg and Viktor Hovland on Saturday, September 30. They lost to the Europeans in foursomes by 9 and 7, as the game ended on the 11th hole.
The American duo was 7-over through 11 holes, while Aberg and Hovland were 6-under. The loss was so bad that Scheffler couldn't control his emotions after the match and was seen being consoled by his wife.
The 9 and 7 result is the worst in the 96-year history of the Ryder Cup. Before this, the largest victory margin was 7 and 6, which was most recently achieved by Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley in 2012 when they beat Lee Westwood and the current Europe captain, Luke Donald.
Hovland was quoted as saying, via Golfweek:
“I don’t think we could have done a whole lot better. It’s nice to kind of speak our own language, and we understand each other. Obviously, same humor, same culture.
"[Åberg's] a stud. He doesn’t miss a shot, so it’s easy when I’m playing well and he’s playing well and we are just feeding off of each other"
The Saturday foursome session wasn't any better than the Friday one as barring Max Homa and Brian Harman, no pair could secure a win. Harman and Homa gave the USA its first win of the Ryder Cup 2023 after defeating Sepp Straka and Shane Lowry 4 and 2.
The other two results also went to Europe's side, as Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy secured their second victory as a pair after triumphing over Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth by 2 and 1.
Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton also earned another point for the hosts after winning against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele by 2 and 1. Europe now has 9.5 wins compared to the US's 2.5. With four points yet to be played on Saturday, the host can still get even closer to the magical number of 14.
The Ryder Cup 2023 fourball schedule explored for Saturday, September 30
Jon Rahm is rested for the Saturday afternoon four-ball session of the Ryder Cup 2023. Brooks Koepka and Scheffler, who suffered a heavy defeat in the morning, are also not participating in the four-ball session. On the other hand, Åberg and Hovland will team up once again in this session.
Harman and Homa, the only winning duo for the US, will be in action again in the noon session.
Below is the schedule for the afternoon fourball session of Ryder Cup 2023 on Saturday, September 30:
Match 13: 12:25 pm CET (06:25 am ET)
- Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg vs. Sam Burns and Collin Morikawa
Match 14: 12:40 pm CET (06:40 am ET)
- Tommy Fleetwood and Nicolai Hojgaard vs. Max Homa and Brian Harman
Match 15: 12:55 pm CET (06:55 am ET)
- Justin Rose and Robert McIntyre vs. Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth
Match 16: 13:10 pm CET (07:10 am ET)
- Matt Fitzpatrick and Rory McIlroy vs. Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark