01에이스의 역설, 팀 골프의 숙제
PGA 투어를 지배하는 세계 랭킹 1위 스코티 셰플러는 개인전에서는 타의 추종을 불허하는 절대 강자다. 하지만 라이더컵이나 프레지던츠컵 같은 단체전 무대에서는 그의 압도적 퍼포먼스가 오히려 팀 전술 수립에 변수가 되고 있다는 분석이 나온다.
전문가들은 셰플러의 공격적인 경기 스타일과 파트너와의 호흡 문제, 그리고 에이스에게 쏠리는 과도한 부담감이 팀 전체의 밸런스를 해칠 수 있다고 지적한다.
과거 타이거 우즈나 필 미켈슨 역시 에이스로서 단체전에서 고전한 전례가 있어, 미국 대표팀 수뇌부가 셰플러를 어떻게 기용하고 관리할지가 향후 대회의 성패를 가를 핵심 열쇠가 될 전망이다.
02Original (English) — PGA TOUR
MEDINAH, Ill. – Brandt Snedeker remembers the feeling. Medinah’s first tee was lit only by the glow of spectators’ flip phones. The crowd's fervor breathed life into a still-sleepy Chicago.
Snedeker was a mess.
The skittish American had the gargantuan responsibility of going off first on Friday of the 2012 Ryder Cup as a rookie. He was paired alongside Jim Furyk, and, although Furyk’s days as a top-five player were behind him, Snedeker felt an unnerving worry that he might let his partner, one of the best to ever do it, down.
“I kept thinking no matter what I do, I'll never hit it as straight as he does; this is not going to go well,” Snedeker said Tuesday.
The feeling is relatable.
The cauldron of team golf creates a never-ending number of nerve points. Playing for a country carries a certain pressure. The same goes for match play, a format with nowhere to hide. But a bulk of the anxiety stems from the team room. Letting yourself down is one thing. Letting the other 11 players on your team down is heartbreaking. And if you find yourself playing alongside one of the greatest golfers to ever live, those nerves multiply.
“I think there's an inherent kind of – not fear for the guy they're playing with, but a feeling of I'm letting him down,” Snedeker said. “He's the best player in the world. He's so good at everything; no matter what I do isn't going to be good enough.”
Snedeker felt that with Furyk. Countless Americans experienced it with Tiger Woods, whose team golf record lagged well behind his individual stroke-play accomplishments. And that’s what leads us to this Presidents Cup and the following question: Do the Americans have a Scottie Scheffler problem?
It’s one of the weirdest developments in recent national team play. Scheffler, by far the world’s best golfer for five years running, still hasn't solved the format. He’s 6-11-4 across the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup. He’s 1-7 in Foursomes. Not all of that is on Scheffler. He was unlucky in Charlotte in 2022; he played well by the numbers but ran into several buzzsaws on the International squad. He held a winning record two years ago in Montreal, too. Yet the expectation for the world No. 1 is dominance. Scheffler hasn’t.
Why?
One theory is what Snedeker described. Scheffler weighs down his partner, not with his play, but with his aura. There’s a pressure to match his level, an unsustainable ask for most. Yet ask any of his recent partners, and they dismiss the theory.
“Not really,” Sam Burns said, later adding, “Anybody on this team would be very excited to play with the No. 1 player in the world, and I'm definitely looking forward to it.”
“I don't know that I necessarily struggle with that as much,” Russell Henley said. “I feel like I'm more comfortable with Scottie than I would be if they put me with Tiger."
Whether the players will admit it or not, Snedeker said it’s a “challenge” to find a partner for Scheffler. Scheffler has played with seven partners since 2023. It looked like he had a consistent duo with Henley after they went 2-1 in Montreal, but the duo went winless at Bethpage in last September's Ryder Cup. Burns hinted it will be him this time around, saying he knows who he’s playing with and “his name starts with an S.”
“Trying to find someone who can handle that and be themselves and not try to be someone else is super important,” said Snedeker, a comment that further points to Burns, Scheffler’s best friend on Tour.
Added Snedeker: “Scottie Scheffler is not going to be the reason we win or lose this Presidents Cup necessarily. It's going to have to be 12 people pitching in and doing their job.”
Yet the two have played four matches across the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup and are 0-3-1. If Burns doesn’t work, where will they turn?
Scheffler acknowledged there could be extra pressure playing with top players, but insisted it’s not an issue for this team. So what has been the issue? Scheffler has his own theories. Flukiness is one. Running into a hot team is another. But Scheffler also admitted it could come from his own expectations.
“As a hypercompetitive person, I think sometimes I can probably try too hard. If you look at my putting stats over the course of my career, arguably what made me struggle the most in 2023 was probably trying too hard. I think when you look at this format, and like you said, maybe my record hasn't matched up to what I think that it should be, could it be trying too hard?” Scheffler said. “I think that's definitely a factor for sure."
When Scheffler struggles, it’s particularly notable because he’s almost always playing. He’s played in 14 of the last 15 sessions across the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. Scheffler doesn’t sit after a poor result or two. He will be out there, regardless.
It’s no coincidence that Scheffler’s performance correlates with U.S. Team success, particularly since he became world No. 1. He had a winning record in Montreal. The U.S. won. He had losing records at Bethpage and Marco Simone. The U.S. lost both.
Scheffler can’t win or lose the Presidents Cup alone, but he’s the likely story that stems from either outcome. What story will we tell Sunday night at Medinah?