Russell Henley shares if he feels under pressure when paired with Scottie Scheffler at team events
· Yahoo Sports
Russell Henley has explained that he has been good friends with Scottie Scheffler for such a long time that he has not felt the pressure to deliver for him in team events that he would have done if paired with Tiger Woods.
It would be no surprise to see Brandt Snedeker put Henley and Scheffler together over the coming days at the Presidents Cup. The pair have played five matches together over the last two team events.
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They have had mixed results. Scheffler and Henley won two of their three matches together at Royal Montreal back in 2024, but went on to lose both of their games at the Ryder Cup the following year.
Bizarrely, no player on the American team this week at Medinah has lost more matches in the Presidents Cup than Scottie Scheffler.
Russell Henley speaks about the pressure of partnering with Scottie Scheffler
Of course, he is not alone in being a superstar of the game who cannot seem to find his very best form when representing Team USA. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson lost 31 times between them in the Presidents Cup.
It is inevitable that some would point to the partners those players have had as a potential reason, with some struggling to step up. However, when asked about the pressure of playing alongside Scheffler, Russell Henley insisted that he does not feel a greater burden.
“Yeah, I haven’t felt that as much. I think if you would’ve told me my first Ryder Cup you’re putting me with Tiger it could have been hard just because growing up I’m watching him every day on TV literally,” he said.
“Scottie I’ve spent a lot of time with off the course leading up to these team events. For a couple years before I made any of those team events Scottie and Sam would get a house most weeks and we would hang with them; our wives are friends.
“I’ve spent enough time with him that I haven’t felt that very much. Really I’m just excited to play with him. He’s an incredible teammate and obviously he’s an amazing golfer, so it’s kind of like the best combination. But I haven’t felt that as much, and I just always look forward to being on his team for sure.”
Why Russell Henley is not entirely surprised by Scottie Scheffler’s Team USA record
Scheffler has lost 11 of his 21 matches across the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup. He is someone who has won four majors and 22 times overall on the PGA Tour since the start of the 2022 season.
It does not seem to make a lot of sense that he has such a poor record in these team competitions when you consider that his biggest strength is his relentless refusal to make any mistakes.
However, Henley admitted that he is not entirely surprised that Scheffler is not quite as dominant in matchplay events.
“Yeah, I am, but I’m not. I feel like when you take the best player in the world and you put him on a hard golf course and you play for 72 holes, it shows it’s usually one guy maybe ties or beats him. On average. It’s ridiculous,” he said.
“So that’s over 72 holes. That’s a normal golf tournament. When you’re playing 18 holes and you have a partner, that’s just a lot different.
“So it is surprising because he’s so good. But it’s also like just part of it with match play. I don’t know what Tiger’s record was in match play, but I would imagine he was probably tough to pair with because he’s such a world star.
“But, yeah, match play is just so different than stroke play.”
Scheffler has lost both of his singles matches at the Presidents Cup, while he lost all four of the matches he played over the first two days at Bethpage last September. So it is extremely difficult to put a finger on what has gone wrong for him in recent years.
Having said that, it would be no surprise if the 30-year-old emerged from this week with a flawless record.