Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg broke the record for the biggest foursomes win in Ryder Cup history with a 9 and 7 thrashing of the USA’s Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka for Europe on Saturday.
The hosts were given a remarkable start in their bid to extend the five-point lead they built on Friday, as the Scandinavian pair beat the previous record set in 1979.
Hovland and Aberg won nine of the 11 holes played, with the other two halved in the alternate shot format.
The previous biggest win in Ryder Cup foursomes was Americans Tom Kite and Hale Irwin’s 7 and 6 success against Ken Brown and Des Smyth 44 years ago.
USA captain Zach Johnson would have expected his star pairing of world No 1 Scheffler and five-time Major champion Koepka to help kickstart a fightback after a disastrous first day in which the visitors slipped 6.5-1.5 behind.
Instead, they started off by playing the first three holes in five over par and fell four-down through four holes.
Hovland and Swedish sensation Aberg, the first golfer to feature at a Ryder Cup without playing at a major championship, made it three straight birdies to extend a lead which became 7-up through the first nine.
The match finished in miserable fashion for Scheffler and Koepka as they hacked multiple shots over the 11th green before an inevitable concession.
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images
